Unique Egyptian photography by Sandro Vanini

Renowned archaeologist dr. Zahi Hawass is the secretary general of the supreme council of antiquities and vice minister of culture in Egypt. On the 9th of December he gave a reading for attendants at the British Museum in London. The main occasion was the launch of the book ‘a secret voyage’ that he published with photographer Sandro Vannini. In the huge book (literally) Sandro Vannini uses special lighting and digital techniques to create images of unparalleled quality.  He has been working on the project since 1997 and captured subjects that include stunning photos from the likes of the Valley of the Kings, noble and private tombs at Thebes, and representations of beauty and afterlife in ancient Egypt.

Images have been captured using cutting-edge digital techniques and specially designed lighting, enabling Vannini to produce images of extremely high quality and resolution. Vannini has not digitally altered the imagery, but instead combines sometimes a hundred images or more into a single image to capture more detail than would be possible with film or typical digital photography. He has also been able to obtain unique access to restricted sites across Egypt to capture rarely seen objects, antiquities and perspectives.

Dr Zahi Hawass, who is sometimes compared to Indiana Jones for his adventurous approach to archaeology and involvement of the media spoke about various recent discoveries at the valley of Kings and the Pyramids. He also talked to the public about a number of high profile guests to the projects including a recent visit by Barack Obama.

Corbis represents the work of Sandro Vannini for the book and his wider archaeology collection. The announcement was made last night at a VIP event at the British Museum in London celebrating the launch of A Secret Voyage, a limited-edition large-scale photography book featuring select images from the collection.

A Secret Voyage is available in a limited edition of 750 copies available at £2,600 each.  A selection of the new collection available now on Corbis is available here.