In an era of manipulated images and fractured narratives, Josef Batten’s journey from war zones to an Australian sanctuary offers us a masterclass in authentic seeing.

Josef Batten, born in 1930s Poland and orphaned at birth, becomes one of the world’s most celebrated war photographers, yet lives as a ghost behind the camera, emotionally cut off from the world he documents.

After a breakdown in the late 1980s, he vanishes into the wilderness, protected by an indigenous reserve in the far north of Western Australia. When he re‑emerges, it’s with a new focus: as a portraitist capturing the intimate beauty of human connection.

At the heart of his transformation is Adam Laidlaw, a young man who sees Josef not as a legend, but as a human being.

Spanning decades and continents, The Many Truths of Josef Batten is a tender, searching novel about what it means to be present. It’s a story about love, trauma, memory, and art, and the redemptive power of friendship. It asks what it means to truly see and be seen, and whether healing is possible after decades of detachment.

A novel that covers the psychological landscape of conflict photography, and offers a way forward.