Author: Martin Davies
Publisher: Barbary Press, Ibiza.
ISBN / Price: 84 609-4095-0 / 50 euro (cloth)

Following the success of Eivissa-Ibiza: a Hundred Years of Light and Shade (2000), its author continued searching for exceptional photographs of Ibiza and Formentera in half a dozen countries, and has located fifty more archives containing first-class material. The book contains several overlapping themes, but the principal subject is undoubtedly Ibicenco culture, above all traditions, crafts and activities which have rarely been captured on film. A second theme is the 1955-80 transition to an economy based on tourism, a time during which the old and the new (beatniks/hippies) created arresting juxtapositions. A third theme is the rich variety of Ibiza’s cosmopolitan community (or communities), seen both in photographs and biographical entries: the photographers themselves represent thirteen different European and American countries. A fourth theme is the beauty of Ibiza’s landscapes and townscapes, and here early colour photographs play a special role. The final theme, time, is underlined by the book’s subtitle, with its different nuances in each language. Over the past half-century tourism, immigration, affluence and technology have combined to alter many of the things which once set Ibiza apart. Island Out of Time both celebrates what was unique about the island in the past, and presents a plea for sustainability with regard to our common future.

A more detailed review of the book, here.