Production period

1962-1967

Publications

Alps Japanese ed. (1969) Kodansha Ltd. (price 20,000JPY)

Majestat Del Alpen Swiss ed. (1973) Bucher Company

Majestat Del Alpen Swiss Book Club ed. (1974) Libris Company

Majestat Del Alpen German ed. (1973)
Deutscher Bucherbund Company

The Alps British ed. (1973) Thames and Hudson Company

Majeste Des Alpes French ed. (1973) Bibliotheque Des Arts Company

Alpernes Jajestæt Danish ed. (1974) Lademnn Company

The Alps American ed. (1975) Harry N. Abrams Company

Although colourful landscapes pictures of sunrise and sunset are common, before 1969 when Alps was published, there was no such a picture in the world like the gorgeous red or orange colourful pictures that appeared in the Alps. Mr. Shirakawa, at that time was working on exclusive photographs of The World Cultural Geography in 23 volumes and The World Culture Series in 26 volumes. He travelled to 135 countries and carried out his research by touring bookstores. After Himalayas was published in 1971, the colours of the photographs were increasingly used in works of other photographers especially in Japan. Alps was the work that revolutionized landscape photography all over the world. It is no surprise that foreign-language editions sold 800,000 copies.

The Swiss newspaper, Vaterland, commented, "the pictures of this book are so beautiful that it captivates our souls", and the German newspaper, Neue Hannoversche Presse (May 11, 1973) acclaimed Alps as "the first and probably the last, solemn, and really magnificent photographic collection".
Regarding the US edition of the Alps, the Chicago Tribune (July 12, 1975) said, "about to stupefy, it develops the colour changing one after another and the tone of light."

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