Seeing Silence

In a world ever more congested and polluted with both toxins and noise, award-winning photographer Pete McBride takes readers on a once-in-a-lifetime escape to find places of peace and quiet—a pole-to-pole, continent-by-continent quest for the soul. We tend to think of silence as the absence of sound, but it is actually the void where we can hear the sublime notes of nature. In this National Outdoor Book Award winning work, photographer Pete McBride reveals the wonders of these hushed places in spectacular imagery—from the thin-air flanks of Mount Everest to the depths of the Grand Canyon, from the high-altitude vistas of the Atacama to the African savannah, and from the Antarctic Peninsula to the flowing waters of the Ganges and Nile. These places remind us of the magic of being “truly away” and how such places are vanishing. Often showing beauty from vantages where no other photographer has ever stood, this is a seven-continent visual tour of global quietude—and the power in nature’s own sounds—that will both inspire and calm.

In a world ever more congested and polluted with both toxins and noise, award-winning photographer Pete McBride takes readers on a once-in-a-lifetime escape to find places of peace and quiet—a pole-to-pole, continent-by-continent quest for the soul. We tend to think of silence as the absence of sound, but it is actually the void where we can hear the sublime notes of nature. In this National Outdoor Book Award winning work, photographer Pete McBride reveals the wonders of these hushed places in spectacular imagery—from the thin-air flanks of Mount Everest to the depths of the Grand Canyon, from the high-altitude vistas of the Atacama to the African savannah, and from the Antarctic Peninsula to the flowing waters of the Ganges and Nile. These places remind us of the magic of being “truly away” and how such places are vanishing. Often showing beauty from vantages where no other photographer has ever stood, this is a seven-continent visual tour of global quietude—and the power in nature’s own sounds—that will both inspire and calm.

A groundbreaking introduction to Scandinavian artist Helene Schjerfbeck through the paintings and drawings that mark her as an exceptional modernist Reevaluating the role of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) in the history of modernism, this publication highlights pivotal passages in her sixty-year career--from her training at the Finnish Art Society and remarkable early success to her studies in Paris and St. Ives and eventual return to Finland. There, in relative isolation, she pared down figure paintings and still lifes to near abstraction while introducing greater complexity in her canvases. Long celebrated in Finland and Sweden, Schjerfbeck is relatively unknown to the rest of the world. This book provides fresh insight into her idiosyncratic processes and discusses the series of haunting self-portraits that she painted in her final years, which stand among the twentieth century's most extraordinary self-examinations. Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck introduces an extraordinary Nordic artist who realized her own unique vision with passionate determination, despite personal adversity and her homeland's turbulent political history. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (December 5, 2025-April 5, 2026)

A groundbreaking introduction to Scandinavian artist Helene Schjerfbeck through the paintings and drawings that mark her as an exceptional modernist Reevaluating the role of Finnish painter Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) in the history of modernism, this publication highlights pivotal passages in her sixty-year career--from her training at the Finnish Art Society and remarkable early success to her studies in Paris and St. Ives and eventual return to Finland. There, in relative isolation, she pared down figure paintings and still lifes to near abstraction while introducing greater complexity in her canvases. Long celebrated in Finland and Sweden, Schjerfbeck is relatively unknown to the rest of the world. This book provides fresh insight into her idiosyncratic processes and discusses the series of haunting self-portraits that she painted in her final years, which stand among the twentieth century's most extraordinary self-examinations. Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck introduces an extraordinary Nordic artist who realized her own unique vision with passionate determination, despite personal adversity and her homeland's turbulent political history. Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (December 5, 2025-April 5, 2026)