Views predominantly composed of water and air, light and its reflection, often give the landscapes—beaches, wetlands, riverbeds, depressions—of the award-winning Düsseldorf photographer Elger Esser (born 1967) an impression of placelessness, even though he always names the specific location in the title of the image. These are places that offer a low, straight horizon; this, along with Esser's characteristic colors, is one of the striking details of the resulting landscape photograph. Esser's latest series showcases landscapes and locations along the Lebanese coast (En Naqora, Saida, Enfeh), along the Nile in Egypt (Aswan, Luxor, Salwa Bahry, El Quarwad), and in Israel (Lake Galilee, Akko). As in earlier series created in Italy and France, Esser's images of the Orient thrive on the universal fascination of an apparently endless horizon and complete tranquility in the foreground. The French writer Mathias Énard, who has studied Arabic and Persian and spent several years in the Middle East, has written the introductory essay.