Dedicated to my loving wife, Lila

This enchanting collection of poetic, serendipitous images of children around the world presents the viewer with an awareness of their vulnerability, their beauty and how these manifest themselves in the context of their varied cultures.
    The images help us identify with the children, and in their innocence or otherwise exploring a new-found world, interacting with other children on a voyage into consciousness. Intuitively Günther has captured moments, showing the children either self-consciously smiling or as part of a panoply of humanity, either in their struggle to survive or cavorting enjoying each other or whatever is at hand.
    From the Andes to China, from Africa to the Middle East we see children also as part of their parents' struggle, either in a battle against the elements or working to make a living. We see children being kind and caring and filled with the radiance of new life. We see children labouring, we see them having fun, we see them being curious about their world, taking part in religious ceremonies, we see them dancing or in awe of their surroundings. In this enriching and sensual world Günther has created for us, we come closer to what it means to be human and to discover an innocence and a curiosity again in our adult selves.
    The images convey a profound and indefatigable engagement with life and its kaleidoscopic nature, while at the same time presenting the viewer with the universality of being human, albeit it in cultures that otherwise might have remained indecipherable. These images, captured seemingly in passing, don't merely take one on a geographical journey, but into a re-awakening of the self, faced with the myriad of magical forms humanity can take.