The Earth from the Air for Children

Citation

Wallis, J. (2003), "The Earth from the Air for Children", Library Review, Vol. 52 No. 9, pp. 464-465. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530310501536

The superb aerial photographs of Yann Arthus‐Bertrand's The Earth from the Air project continue to tour the world. I was lucky enough to see the exhibition when it was in Copenhagen. The project took two years to complete and sent the photographer all over the globe in search of the shots that make up this acclaimed collection. The photographs, taken from the air by helicopter, capture the diversity of natural colour and life on the planet.

The photographs illustrate the variety in the natural environment, and the many ways in which human beings and other species adapt to their environment in order to survive. Man living in symbiosis with his environment is an aspect of many of the scenes depicted in the pictures from around the world. It is the nature of the image that suggests this symbiosis; Senegalese fishermen selling their catch at an open‐air market on the beach after a night's fishing or the colourful patchwork of dates spread out to dry in an Egyptian palm grove. The images offer an important reminder to mankind; of its place within the global ecosystem of the planet. The dependence of mankind on its natural environment is demonstrated through the various ways of life and human activities depicted.

Photographs of the fins of a whale as it disappears underneath the ocean off the coast of Argentina or logs being transported down the Amazon River are used to raise questions about the repercussions of some aspects of human activity on the environment. The distance of the aerial photographs allows us to have some distance in our own perspective as we view them. We are able to take a more holistic view of man's presence on the planet, to weigh up the positive and negative aspects of human activity in terms of its impact on the environment and on our fellow man. The images and accompanying text raise these issues in a subtle and thought‐provoking way.

In each section the book presents one of Arthus‐Bertrand's photographs. Alongside the photograph is a world map presenting the location in which it was taken, accompanying text providing environmental and ecological background to the photograph by children's writer Robert Burleigh, and an illustration of a child of that nation. The vibrancy and colour of the scenes that have been photographed are fascinating. The combination of the photographs with Burleigh's text offers more detail and further explanation of the scene. In this way the photographs offer the child a gateway to complex ideas such as sustainable development and cultural awareness.

It is a shame that the book is printed so that the photographs are spread across its spine. It might have been better to present each section with the photograph clearly printed on one page with its accompanying descriptive text and illustrations on the other. The reader should be able to allow his eyes to explore such glorious images without the disruption that book's spine causes.

The book is a valuable introduction to the biodiversity of the planet and wider environmental issues. In a vivid way the book offers children a taste of the wonderful variety of life on this planet, some idea of what life is like for others in far off places and of the similarities, independent of geographical location, between people. It is a book that may offer some balance to the messages of the intense consumerist media culture within which children grow up in modern developed nations. It is undoubtedly important that children are introduced to some understanding of the importance of the earth's biodiversity, and this book does just that.