Het Bun Dai Bun: Laos - Sacred Rituals of Luang Prabang

Laos has not long been opened to foreigners and this is the first time that its most sacred city, Luang Prabang, has been explored in such depth. These breathtaking images reveal a world like no other -- especially its rituals and ceremonies. For centuries, these holy rites have encapsulated the spiritual life of a culture that the West is only now beginning to understand. Hans Berger received the full co-operation of the monks and laymen of Luang Prabang in creating his definitive portrait of one of the last citadels of the 'mysterious East'. With 190 duotone photographs.

Hans Berger's photographs have been shown in exhibitions throughout Europe and Asia, and are in many public and private collections. His books -- which include plays, novels and travel writing -- have been widely translated. This is his eleventh photographic book.

In his native Germany, Hans Berger is well known as a playwright, theatre director and photographer. He is co-founder and the former director of the Munich international festivals of contemporary art and music. He has also created a centre to encourage encounters between writers, artists and scientists, located in an ancient monastery on the island of Elba.

Hans Berger is editor of "Quaderni di Santa Caterina," a scientific/cultural journal, and the founder of a botanic garden devoted to the flora of the Tuscan archipelago. In this new book, Hans Berger's text and photographs are supported by essays from Marcello Zago, a Vatican archbishop and author of the standard work on Laotian Buddhism, and by the photography critic Christian Caujolle -- founder of the Vu picture agency, "Libération" contributor and Director of the Arles Festival of Photography -- with whom Hans Berger has collaborated on two previous travel books.