I became envious as I turned the pages | The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon

"The journey" is an inspiration | The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon | Dan Eldon

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	• The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon Dan Eldon Chronicle Books, 1997 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 51 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

It helps one realize the importance of living a full life

I met Dan in Berlin. He was engrosed in his art-form. This book is a shocking but pleasent reminder of how he attempted life - with every color available.

I became envious as I turned the pages

When I am dead and gone how will my art work exist? This thought isn't one that I ever conssciously consider, but Dan Eldon's journals raise the question about art works having a life of their own. The magical and mysterious book that fell practically into my hands gave me immediate access into the the intimate life of Dan Eldon. Eldon, was a "Reuters photographer that was stoned to death in Somalia in July 1993 by a mob reacting to the United Nations bombing raid on the suspected headquaters of General Mohammed Farah Aidid. Only Twenty-two when he died, Dan already achieved prominience for his work as a war photographer. But his photographs told only half the story. The other half lay hidden away in seventeen black-bound journals filled with collages,writings,drawings,and photographs"(Eldon p5).

The books are like travel-logs with imagery that Eldon actively creates with either his camera or his hands producing personal knowledge of the artist's life. The work is fun to look at. The densely layered pages and the visual wit that Eldon forms causes an instant attraction quality. It is like what poets look for----travel, freedom, exotic places, and the imagery and text does not indulge in the boredom and loneliness associated with travel. Words are covered over by pictures and pictures are covered by words telling stories of adventure by bits and pieces that the viewer must put together.

The work Dan Eldon produced in his sketch books is not like anyone else's because it is a record of a particular individual's life and thoughts. It is like a collection of some kind, stored in a closet waiting to be found. The young death of Eldon makes the work meaningful because it cannot continue but only influence anyone who invests the time in exploring this person's life.

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"The journey" is an inspiration

I initially bought this book for my girlfriend. She is a graphic designer and she was lyrical about it. Now I am the one who reads it the most. The nice thing about "The Journals of Dan Eldon" is that every time you pick it up, it says something different, you see new things. That's because he was such an allround and grown-up artist already. It is a book that makes you want to live your life as intense and open and adventurous as possible. It is very sad he died at such a young age and it is a great loss to the world of art, but with these journals, his death has been given a meaning.

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Dan Eldon's life continues to inspire....

The life of Dan Eldon continues to inspire an open-hearted examination of our species. Why do those who simply wish to help humanity have to lose their lives? Why does man continue to communicate through use of violence? This journal is the beautiful, tragic adventure of a life that could not simply buy and sell existence. A compassion journey with meaning. Dan Eldon's life will continue to educate even if humans are not ready to learn.

*Paul Ginocchio

Dan, I miss you

I read the book in an overwhelming feeling. His works are like shapes and colors writhing in pleasure and agony of life. I somehow shivered, feeling as if I touched the very bottom of his heart. I met him in 1992 while I was going to school in Iowa. He was a very handsome young man who loved to play practical jokes (he even made me somersault in public), but he had a serious side too. Once he told me about non-white caucasians underestimating their beauty. He said, "All media feature white people like a standard of beauty. It's dangerous. How can you realize you are beautiful if you are non-white and have to see it all the time?" Dan, half British and half American brought up in Kenya, had this fair attitude, which I believe was nurtured by his global experience. I liked his seriousness that he showed sometimes. He left to Africa after three month stay in Iowa. On the last day in US, he gave me a couple of kisses and a big hug, which he called "European greeting." For some reasons, I said goodbye in stead of see you, which I usually love to say. It makes me regret. It's been almost five years since his loss, but I still can't help thinking "how would he look now? What would he be doing...if only he wasn't in Somalia in the summer of 1993?"

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