Way without tarmac. Canary Islands

Rolf Walter's photographs and drawings collected in this book take as their theme Shantytown, its constructions and inhabitants. This Berlin artist's book is not an ethnological documentary peddling some harrowing scene of misery. His primary intention is one of admiration. The work has developed from a mutual giving: Rolf Walter imbibes the proliferation of signs, fixtures, materials and colours from this Canary Island Shantytown. According to the delicacy of their echoes, he shows us their indirect fellowship with us, a thousand aspects of what is meant by "artistic work". Rolf Walter's images introduce us to the benefits of an adventurously poetic, artistic gaze cast upon these humble builders and homes and so restore to them their portion of dignity and beauty. Words and images, interwoven by Rolf Walter and Bruno Duborgel, guide us not so much on a "visit" as on a "visitation", from an Artist's perspective, of the Shantytown.