Friday, 26 June 2009

Vertigo


It's not often we can get ourselves up to such a height that we can see the world directly from above, I can think of few opportunities when most of us do see the world from this different perspective, perhaps only when we are able to go to the top of sky scrappers and see views across a city or we might catch a glimpse through the window of a plane as we take-off and land. Even on these rare occasions we are often left amazed at how small things seem and the height distance gives us a warped perspective making it all seem surreal. With this small amount of personal experience I am always amazed when I get to see photographs of our planet from above mainly because in that moment I am suddenly made aware of the beauty that our planet has and what amazing rock, water land formations which we live amongst. The variations of natural earthy colours against the newer manmade forms and how the the light from sunsets, sunrises, moon and sun reflect differently on landscape when seen from above rather than on a horizontal plane. It is like seeing our world through different eyes.

I have recently come across two photographers, Yann Arthus-Bertrand and David Maisel who are lucky enough to see the planet from this angle when they are at work and who both enjoy a passion for placing themselves at a height over land and sea so they can document what they see. It must be an amazing sensation to see something from ground level and then to experience the view from above. Some locations that Yann and David have visited for their photography are so distant from civilisation that to see them on any level is amazing enough but what they have come back with is awe inspiring, stunning and beautiful if not a little abstract.

David Maisel- The Mining Project




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