Southern Frontiers

Book excerpt: Don McCullin's reputation as the greatest photographer of conflict has been replaced in recent years with an image of McCullin as the great traveller. He is now as familiar with the remoter parts of the globe as he was once accustomed to life in the war zone. His most ambitious journey has been to explore the fringes of the Roman empire. Southern Frontiers is divided into two parts. The first, The Levant, includes the ruins of Baalbek in the Lebanon, Palmyra in Syria and Jirash in Jordan. The second par , The Moghreb, covers a sweeping journey through the North African coastal countries Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, where he has photographed the great ruins of Leptus Magna. McCullin's photographs, taken on a large format camera, are evocative of the views of distinguished nineteenth-century predecessors who came with sketchbooks and paints. The book is produced in an appropriate large album format. Texts on each of the sites have been written by Barnaby Rogerson, an authority on the Roman empire. The book will include an introduction by McCullin himself.