John Ortner’s Where Every Breath is a Prayer is both engaging and enlightening. With this odyssey, he takes us to the past and each landscape tells a story of the heart and soul of the people.
The photographic journey begins in Nepal, the place of birth of Gautama Buddha. John Ortner captures some of the most astounding images of the rustic sanctuaries, streams and mountains. John Ortner reveals his imaginative gift for bringing out the simple yet deep veins of religion that are the definition of this ancient civilization. That is not all; he questions and illustrates the commitment of the readers to the engaging images that reveal his understanding of the land.
After Nepal, the next place John Ortner takes the reader is India. Images of the beauty and reverent crowd of the Kartika Purnima on the Ganges remind the reader that India is not only a centerpiece, but also a masterpiece of the gods that remain primary in the minds and hearts of those who are faithful and is unchanged in the new nuclear world of today. One of the most important pieces in the book is the image of corpses as they are prepared for cremation while others are already wrapped in flames.