Words cannot even begin to describe the beauty of the works of art contained in this book. If you only ever buy one book in your life to just look at the pictures let it be this one. I could sit entranced by their embroidery for hours. I agree with another reviewer who stated that you can't conceive of this art being created by human hands. If you need proof simply look at the cover. That is not a photograph folks, it is embroidered.
The photographs are also quite beatiful. Consider as you look at them that the photo's are trying to capture texture...something very elusive in that medium. In many cases you can barely tell the photo from the embroidery and in others the embroidery is an interpretation of the photo.
I cannot state this enough this book is truly, truly extraordinary and I don't think that there is anything else like it out there.

This is, by far, the most beautiful embroidery book I've ever seen anywhere, at any time. It seems impossible that such impressive works of art could have been created. Robert Ketchum's photographs are beautiful, but the embroideries are, indeed, so breathtaking that it's hard to believe real human beings could have worked on them. This is the kind of embroidery I would love to be able to do, but it is so amazing that I know I'll never reach such a high level of expertise (at least not in this lifetime). My thanks to all the people involved in this project for sharing their special gifts with me and anyone else fortunate enough to have purchased this book or, better still, to have seen these works in person.

This book contains lavish photos of breathtaking embroidery from the Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute, representing the pinnacle of Chinese embroidery. Many of the examples are photorealistic interpretations of landscape photographs - an amazing achievement. It makes one understand why embroidery has long been regarded as a fine art in China, often esteemed higher than painting. A must for anyone who loves embroidery or textiles.

If you're looking for a photography book with beautiful pictures of wildlife, Inuit, flowers upon the tundra, etc., this is NOT for you. But, if you like "nature" photography at its minimalist best, these photographs are beautiful if you enjoy looking at photos of fog upon the water and the patterns that ice floes make upon the land and sea. I was a tad disappointed in the text... because it's "poetry", as opposed to the photographer detailing his journey. An account of Ketchum's journey is in another part of the book, but it would have been far more effective if his observations were next to the images instead of a poet's musings on the area, which left me unsatisfied and with questions about certain images. This is a remote area that we know little about and the photographer's account and observations would have been most helpful and informative.