Harry Pearce's monograph of travel photography

Harry Pearce's new monograph Eating with the Eyes features photographs taken during his immersive travels

(Image credit: Harry Pearce)

published 19 January 2016

Believing that the best things in life happen by accident could be seen as a relatively aimless way to live one's life, but Harry Pearce proves a point with the enthralling images in his new monograph Eating with the Eyes. The tome features a haphazard world of photographs, taken spontaneously during his extensive travels.

Known initially as graphic designer and for his work at Pentagram, Pearce has been an avid photographer since his father gifted him a camera as a child. A world away from his visual wordplay book Conundrums, Eating with the Eyes sends the viewer to a more intimate place, channelling Pearce’s journeys to Italy, Havana, Beijing and beyond.

The results are mesmerising, Pearce manages to create accidental art from surprising forms like dirt, splashed paint and eroded forms. Sometimes dark and mysterious, Pearce gives these abandoned objects extraordinary attention and a story of their own.

The mystery in each image is short-lived, as the photographs are captioned with location details, placing them specifically within Pearce’s visual pilgrimage. The narrative is taken further still, as he often describes the situation surrounding the picture: ‘an exquisite pile of bricks from Beijing Hutong... they have the spirit of Lao Tzu imbued in them’, for example.

Pearce finds abstract patterns in drain covers and street lines in Hong Kong, and subtle beauties in corroded pipework and destroyed plaster in Puglia. Imbued with a calming, anecdotal sentiment, ‘this book is visual meditation’, he explains.

Luminescent emerald scarves up against the Great Wall in Beijin — Compiled as a visual narrative, the book chronicles Pearce's travels through Italy, Havana, Beijing and beyond. Pictured: luminescent emerald scarves up against the Great Wall in Beijing. Pearce describes how he couldn't capture the sheer intensity of colour on camera

Three men were sitting on these chairs before this image was taken — Pearce goes beyond the picture to tell a story; here he notes that three men were sitting on these chairs before this image was taken – their presence seemed to remain after they had left

Random letterforms in Delhi – '... the letterforms had been moved, creating a fantastic moment, the spirit of which is at the heart of so much of this book'.

Image of four hand prints — Cultural histories are also explored in the book's narrative. Pictured: Pearce explains the different cultural meanings these hand prints hold between Jerusalem – where they were made – and in India, where such marks celebrate the beginning of a new home

Ceiling of a collapsed roof — Beams from the ceiling of a collapsed roof in North Adams, Massachusetts – 'I see ancient hills, pathways with people in exodus,' Pearce notes

Image of water pipes — His narrative manages to create accidental art from surprising forms like dirt, splashed paint and eroded forms. Pictured: an image of water pipes taken during his first visit to Hong Kong

Left: a clipped and tied tarpaulin and right: silk, iron and rubber create an erotic moment — Pictured left: a clipped and tied tarpaulin in Hong Kong. Right: silk, iron and rubber create an erotic moment in Sham Shui Po

A mannequin, found pressed up against an iron grill — ‘This book is visual meditation’ say Pearce. Pictured: a mannequin, found pressed up against an iron grill in Porto

INFORMATION

Eating With The Eyes, by Harry Pearce, £39.95, published by Unit Editions. For more information, visit the publisher’s website

Photography: Harry Pearce. Design: Pentagram

Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.