This book started as a slim volume made by the Indian designer Nappa Dori. It was my notebook on a photography trip to Kachchh, India. I also took it on a two short trips to England to promote the book that Charllotte and I wrote about the Textiles of the Banjara.
Near Exeter we visited our friend Jenny Balfour Paul and took the last photos of her at the English cottage she shared with her late husband, Glencairn. In the upper room we looked at her journals and the journals of her muse Thomas Machell. She was preparing to leave the home where she had raised her family and lived for most of her life. Outside as we walked the property, Jenny remarked on favourite trees. One of them was a delicate birch which had dropped a layer of papery bark. Jenny reached down and picked it up then handed it to me, “here” she said. “You should put this in your book.” I added it to the cover.