Without wanting to be condescending， it seems that Koudelka's creative powers are on the wane。Some may like his earliest， photojournalistic work most: the Prague 68 uprising， the raw， visceral studies of gypsies， his early wanderings （Exiles）。 I personally find his pictures from the 1990s a most impressive body of work: epic and gloomy panoramic studies of mutilated landscapes in the Czech Republic （Black Triangle）， in other post-Soviet territories （Chaos）， in Wales， on （former） industrial sites Without wanting to be condescending， it seems that Koudelka's creative powers are on the wane。Some may like his earliest， photojournalistic work most: the Prague 68 uprising， the raw， visceral studies of gypsies， his early wanderings （Exiles）。 I personally find his pictures from the 1990s a most impressive body of work: epic and gloomy panoramic studies of mutilated landscapes in the Czech Republic （Black Triangle）， in other post-Soviet territories （Chaos）， in Wales， on （former） industrial sites （Limestone， the Paris Grands Moulins）。 His book on Rome （Theater of Time， 2003） - sumptuously， darkly romantic - marked the end of this period。Then came his study of the Camargue area in the south of France， which was a disappointment。 All power seemed spent。 A lacklustre portfolio。 "Piedmont" is better， returns to an extent to the earlier work - and does that very often quite literally in the choice of motives and settings。 In that sense an air of valediction hovers over the book。 It comes across as a long， sad finale。 The quality of the portfolio is more even than in the case of Camargue。 Only a few images seem trite， misplaced。 There are some very strong pictures， a flourish of Koudelka's former self and proof that he still is a master in the panoramic format （all images have a 1:3 aspect ratio， likely from a film-based 6x17 camera）。However， what kills this book is the printing。 The images are rendered in a very heavy， oppressive kind of toning， pulling the pictures as it were into the pages。 I always feel compelled to look at this book under a very strong light source。 Indeed， there is no sparkle at all in these images。 Also their texture looks vaguely strange， as if they have been postprocessed to give them a rather artificial air of HDR （high dynamic range） pictures。 I may be completely mistaken here as we can assume that Koudelka， if he still clings to a complete film-based workflow， can rely on the best printers around。Finally， it's not clear what the book wants to tell us either。 A backward glance on a long career is the only rationale that for me keeps together the rather bewildering mix of motives。 The tough， unrelenting focus so distinctive for his earlier work is not here。 And the rambling introduction by Italian writer Giuseppe Culicchia doesn't help us any further either。It's good to have in the library。 I would still give 4 stars for the pictures， but the abysmal printing quality only justifies a 3 star rating。 。。。more