James Whitlow Delano observed that from the outside Islam sometimes appears dark and monolithic. But that is a view which, he says, is colored by physical distance and cultural differences between Islam and the Western world. In Faces of Islam Delano shows the enormous diversity among Islamic peoples across the world, from West Africa to East Asia and from South Asia to northern Europe. His conclusion: Muslims confess their faith with great differences and a remarkable flexibility. A billion people call themselves Muslims, but there is no single entity that can be called Islam.

James Whitlow Delano (b. 1960, United States), stationed in Tokyo, does poetic reportage all over the world. His report on the disappearance of the rain forest in Indonesia was part of the Noorderlicht exhibition Another Asia in 2006.