Magic through a camera

Press, 17 April 1982, Page 16

Magic through a camera

The Mysterious World of Magic. By Folco Quilici. Bay Books, 1981. 291 pp. $17.95. (Reviewed by Hugh Priest) Folco Quilici is a cameraman and film maker. For more than 20 years he has been visiting the more exotic and inaccessible parts of the world because of one film contract or another. Wherever two or three were gathered together for any ritual, Quilici’s camera would be at work. His complete collection must be simply enormous. This book is a selection of photographs specifically about magical practices in Africa, Asia, Australia, Oceania and the Americas. As a picture book it is a fascinating record of a great variety of rituals which

Quilici was told were believed to have magical power. The photography is first class as one would perhaps expect from an expert in the field. Much of the photography is in colour and almost every second page is a picture rather than text. This last is a blessing. Generally speaking, the text is tedious, disjointed and banal (perhaps poorly translated?) Quilici is exceptionally good with a camera, strictly ho hum with words. Do not worry - the book is well worth having for the pictures alone.

Do not let the cover put you off. The tourist department shot of a group of bare breasted dancers (female) was probably chosen by the publishers rather than the author.