How to use this Page

Dan Eldon: Safari as a Way of Life Jennifer New

Dan Eldon was the son of an American mother and a British father and he grew up in Kenya. Throughout his life, he was always creating art, most notably in his journals (which have been published separately.) He traveled extensively throughout Africa and in the 80s, effortlessly crossed the continent's notable class and race lines. In 1993, while working as a photojournalist in Mogadishu, a mob killed him after an American airstrike killed many elders, women, and children. He was 22.

While writing this book and her previous biography of Eldon, Dan Eldon: The Art of Life, New interviewed over 100 of Eldon's friends and family. The young man presented in these pages is one of endless energy and impossible schemes that easily become reality, a talented artist who was just starting to really find his way.

What most readers will notice right away is the striking design-- laid out to mimic Dan's journals, it is filled with his artwork, photographs, page spreads, and words (in full color.) I was most struck by the ones that are mostly paintings, although many are collages of his friends and family, interspersed with ephemera, words, and drawings.

I would have liked a little more context to really paint how stark the race and class issues were when and where Dan was growing up. A little more explanation of what it was like to be white in Nairobi and going to a largely ex-pat school would be helpful.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is over at Apple with Many Seeds.

Book Provided by... the publisher, for Cybil's consideration.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Do you know the story of Dan Eldon? His life and work as a photojournalist? Chronicle Books has released a collection of his imagery, collages, and pursuits in Jennifer New's Safari as a Way of Life. Here is a visual biography that will inspire your own journey.



Dying in the field at the age of 22 in Somalia, Dan Eldon's philanthropy, creativity, and robust life are caught in this collection. The above left spread is included in this work. (Further imagery can be found in The Journey is the Destination.)

Every page of Safari as a Way of Life is moving and inspiring. Whether it is Dan's photo in Newsweek, his record of starving Somalian children, or his homage to a recent love interest, the man's spirit and life are captured and shared. You cannot leaf through this work and leave unchanged.

Along with journal collages, postcards, an iron-on, a poster, and sticker in Safari as a Way of Life, Jennifer New has pieced together Dan's biography with her own words and others who knew him well. You can learn more about Dan at http://www.daneldon.org/site/ and daneldon.com

Do not miss this book, readergirlz. It embodies so much of what believe in our community. Read, reflect, and reach out!

Dan Eldon, Safari as a Way of Life
by Jennifer New
Chronicle Books, 2011