Please try to understand.

This is not my photograph—and it is not so-placed by me. The book is a document of a private collection, owned by Ulrich Beck (a Swiss architect and collector). Ulrich hired the photographer, selected the images, and organized them for publication. My personal opinions about the photographs, and his choices and decisions, have been presented a number of times. I like some and do not like others. I recommended not using some, but my recommendations were usually not taken.

My responsibility with the book was to write the two major chapters that discuss the broad divisions of the beads (Middle Eastern beads first, followed by Indonesian beads, and with a few others); and my job was to edit the submissions of other guest authors. For this work I received an "author credit." However, the book is essentially Ulrich's book. I am not in any way unhappy about the book. Certainly I am not ashamed of it. But it would be incorrect to think of it as "Jamey's book," because it is not that.

I would have composed a very different book.

In regards to this photograph, I doubt that Ulrich knew whether it (the bead) was presented right-side-up or not. I have no reason to suspect he would purposely present it up-side-down. I also have no reason to suspect he paid any attention to the calligraphy at all. (He may have assumed the text was so old there would be no chance of a translation, for all I know.)

Jamey