Introducing Half Wild, the best-looking photobook we ever did see

Is there anything better than when two talented creatives get together to collaborate on a project which funnels their combined skills into something really brilliant? Take a look at Half Wild, the new photobook by photographer Peter Happel Christian and designer Elana Schlenker, which is so good it was named one of the Best Photobooks of 2014 by Humble Arts.

The series Half Wild is fascinating in itself, a collection of around 50 images taken in the USA which identify the sublime in nature. “Its title is drawn from a passage in the book Our National Parks, written by John Muir in 1901,” Peter explains. “Early in the book, Muir characterises the parks and gardens of towns as half wild and celebrates the public’s growing interest in the natural environment as a spiritual and rejuvenating place… I went into the wilds of my Midwestern surroundings, the parks and gardens of towns, as Muir put it, in search of the sublime.”

Elana’s design of the book helps to elevate the series to a whole new realm, allowing the colours to pop and the images to grow into their own. The joy implicit in all the projects she takes her hand to is almost tangible here, glowing out in the unmissable blue cover and arrangement of images across the pages.