Globalization has progressed during the past twenty years, with countries and cultures converging. This makes it virtually impossible to identify the "Western world" in any geographic sense. Is the West then only a dream?

Sixteen international photographers set off on a quest to find the typical West. The book shows us their astonishing discoveries, a kaleidoscope of the Western idea. Includes photographs by Annet van der Voort, Arabella Schwarzkopf, Gianmaria Gava, Horst Friedrichs, Lauren Hermele, Mauro Bottaro, Paolo Woods, Philipp Horak, Reiner Riedler, Richard Ross, Robert Haidinger, Simone Casetta, Stuart Isett, Toni Anzenberger, Ulrich Eigner, and Yadid Levy.

Annet van den Voort: was born in the Netherlands in 1950; after her high-school graduation, she worked as a salesperson. She moved to Germany in 1973 and completed her studies in visual communication at the university of applied sciences in Dortmund with a diploma as designer. Many of her works are in the possession of renowned museums (Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, National Museum of Photography Bradford, Museet for Fotokunst Odense, Deutsches Architekturmuseum Frankfurt, Nederlandse Gasunie Groningen, etc.) and in private collections.

Paolo Woods: the son of a Dutch mother and Canadian father, was born in Amsterdam and grew up in Italy. He ran a photo laboratory and gallery in Florence before turning to documentary photography himself in 1998, working closely with representatives of investigative journalism.His work has appeared in magazines such as Time, Newsweek, Stern, Le Monde, and Geo. Woods's photographs have been shown in solo exhibitions in France, Italy, Spain, Holland and Austria and included in various collections including France's National Library, the FNAC Collection, and the Sheikh Saud Al-Thani Collection in Qatar.
His numerous awards include one World Press Photo, the Alstom Prize for Journalism as well as the GRIN Award. Paolo Woods has been represented by the Anzenberger Agency since 1999.

Yadid Levi: the son of a Danish mother and Israeli father, was born in Copenhagen and grew up in Israel from the age of two. He received his first camera while doing his obligatory military service - and immediately cleared off. Levy then started photographing and travelling and his journeys have - so far - taken him to 70 countries. He spends an average of six months on the road every year and the rest of the time at his home-base in Copenhagen. There, he regularly gives multimedia presentations and lectures on his travels. Over the years, many of his pictures and reportages have been published in various print media. In addition to books and travel guides in Scandinavia and other European countries, these include numerous international magazines such as Geo, Conde Nast Traveller, Maxim, PM, Kurier Freizeit, etc.

Toni Anzenberger: was born in Vienna in 1969. At the beginning of the 1980s, he was a racing cyclist in the Austrian national team. Since 1989, he has been in close contact with the Anzenberger Agency founded by his sister Regina Maria. This led to reportages in magazines such as El Pais, Geo, Independent, VSD as well as commissions for The New York Times.He made an acquaintance of great consequence in 1998: In Italy, the stray dog Pecorino ran up to him. So far, the resulting reportages have been published in more than 20 countries and shown in the Leica Galley in New York, Vienna's Palais Palffy and Berlin.

All included photographers are:
Toni Anzenberger, Mauro Bottaro, Simone Casetta, Ulrich Eigner, Horst Friedrichs, Gianmaria Gava, Robert Haidinger, Lauren Hermele, Philipp Horak, Stuart Isett, Yadid Levy, Reiner Riedler, Richard Ross, Arabella Schwarzkopf, Annet van der Voort, Paolo Woods