Foreword

This book is not intended to accurately chronicle the places to which I have traveled during this time period. In fact, many people who live in these beautiful cities would probably be disturbed that this collection of photographs represented anyone's takeaway from a visit to their fine metropolis. This is not a collection of what you might call "traditional postcards".

In my defense, I visited the majority of the places represented here on a business trip. Business related travel is a very odd way to see the world. Most of the time you are only able to see the place you are visiting very early in the morning or after the sun has gone down, hence the large number of night shots in this collection. In addition, most of the photographs taken outside of the United States were executed under the deep psychedelic effects of hardcore jetlag and sleep deprivation. This certainly has to have an effect on the end result.

The combination of really long days and lack of sleep do not make business travel a natural occasion for artistic endeavors. But, I always feel compelled to spend a little energy to get to know the place I am staying - and I am nearly always rewarded. The soul and energy of these cities reenergizes me and piques my artistic spirit.

Every image in the book was shot with a digital camera and is essentially unaltered, except for minor color correction and cropping.

The title of the book is a reference to "Spook Country" by William Gibson in which he describes a new form of art that is literally embedded into the virtual GPS data. A kind of locative art. To me this collection is something similar - taking the experience of changing locations and trying to make it an artistic experience. I hope you enjoy it.

Adam Whaley