The Great Wall of China

His photographs go beyond the “classic” images of the Great Wall engraved in most peoples’ mind. His images create a gallery that is at the same time austere, thought-provoking — and expansive.

It covers many corners of China you never imagined before. That is why his project is three things packed into one powerful book: a beautiful photographic essay, a historic commentary on the limits of established boundaries — and a personal odyssey.

Altogether, Daniel Schwartz’s vision of the Great Wall creates a unique documentation of this supreme man-made monument. As his images make clear, the Great Wall of China is an amazing — and mysterious — facet of China’s history and geography.

Daniel Schwartz is a graduate of the Fotoklasse, Zurich School of Art and Design 1980. Since 1990, he has been a regular contributor to DU magazine.

In 1996, he joined Lookat, a photographers’ agency based in Zurich. He is author of “Delta — The perils, profits and politics of water in South and Southeast Asia” (Thames and Hudson, London, 1997).

For the past six years, he has been working in the arc of crisis between the Caspian Sea and Kashmir, encompassing Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan.