Johor: Asia Latitude One

Commissioned by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Johor and Her Royal Highness Raja Zarith Sofiah to celebrate the state and its people, Johor: Asia Latitude One is a visual and journalistic chronicle, a collaboration between National Geographic photographer Justin Guariglia and Wall Street Journal reporter John Krich, capturing the full colour and complexity of a realm remarkable for its diversity of landscape, culture, and people. The project became a two-volume set presented in a special case, with a companion volume, Kembara Mahkota: Johor, published by de.MO and featuring photography by Justin Guariglia and a foreword by Thanam Visvanathan-Suresh, dedicated to the Sultan and presented by His Royal Highness to visiting dignitaries including the Prince and Princess of Wales. Today, the Sultan of Johor is Sultan Ibrahim Ismail, elected Yang di-Pertuan Agong, King of Malaysia, in 2024. Johor has a royal lineage among the most distinguished in Southeast Asia, occupying a singular place at the crossroads of Southeast Asian history, culture, and commerce, bordered by Singapore and sitting at the tip of the Malay Peninsula.

Published by de.MO Design Ltd. in 2011 and designed in its entirety by Giorgio Baravalle, the 304-page hardcover features Japanese-style binding and French-folded pages, making it as much a collector’s object as a document. The book won the Independent Publisher Book Award for Photography in 2014.