This lush volume by Günther Komnick again illustrates his deep engagement with his subject matter, in this case, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, the three leading economies of South America.
   While each of the three countries may quite rightly be said to have a "rich and varied" history, the images in this photographic study show the natural and seemingly untamed splendours of the countries living side by side with a sophistication and an elegance; side by side too with despair and hopefulness. Komnick distils these elements into a sublime visual poetry, captured in an instant in a kind of visual epiphany as his camera tells a story behind the image. What may to some appear as arbitrary, is rather an understanding of and a delight in the continued existence of rare fauna and of the landscapes and jungles that have remained, despite the continent hosting some of the most populous cities in the world.     
   Komnick's interpretation of the three countries is a companion volume to his study of Peru, which, for obvious reasons, merits a stand-alone edition. The camera clearly caresses the image, liberating the meaning and complexity thereof to enrich the viewer's experience and understanding of a continent festooned with nature's splendour and humanity's sometimes unwelcome intrusions.
   A continent also of immigrants, we see in the photographs the elements of a hybrid culture emerging, where Europe's impact has created a reinvigorated sense of self among the people who made this wondrous continent their home.