The photographer produces stills. Pro Helvetia sets them in motion. Not the moving pictures of the cinema but in the real world. And away they go around the world to meet different audiences.

Two years ago, Pro Helvetia had the honour to support a travelling exhibition of photographs by Charles Weber - on that occasion in association with Anne-Marie Grobet - to Oceania, as well as to India and the Far East (South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam).

Now, Charles Weber is back, following up his lovely titled "Pretty has only one eye" with a new exhibition, "Lightscapes". Here, light and landscape act out scenes which we can sometimes perceive are the fruit of long preparation. The interplay of lighting and setting has been deftly finished to offer a sort of photo-canvas, more vivid than a painting though doubtless less durable.

After an initial showing at the Forum Meyrin in Geneva, "Lightscapes" will be travelling to Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam. The exhibition draws together the work of photographers who, while born in these three countries, often live and work elsewhere. This conscious "flexibility" enables them to come face to face not only with other photographers but also with a different audience - a confrontation which, though fraught with risk, is vital for those who follow the hard road of art.

The arrival in Switzerland of the nine photographers behind "Lightscapes" is an event which honours us and an opportunity not to be missed. To mark the occasion, we are producing a catalogue which will accompany the exhibition on its travels after Geneva has been left behind.

Why do we need such a publication when the exhibition can be seen on that network of networks, the Internet? Simply because that "canvas" is not only virtual but also ephemeral as well as virtual. The Internet too speaks just English, a language whose expansion over the whole planet serves to facilitate it dangerously. Print, on the other hand, remains a durable medium, a physical presence. A book can be picked up and carried around and its words and images need no support other than itself.

Moreover, even if the printed page does not always satisfy the most exacting standards, it still has qualities which the Internet will not equal for years to come. However, in financial terms, the superiority of the book is less obvious. Whereas the Web is tending to become free of charge - to anyone with access - books are becoming ever more expensive, whether the price is imposed or not. Leaving aside the differences between forms of expression and means of conveying information, the three approaches complement each other: the photographs exhibited, the accompanying catalogue and the virtual site.

Yvette Jaggi.   President of Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland