Earth from Above: 365 Days

Rating:
Summary: A stunning collection of pictures.
Review:
In all fairness this is quite a book.I found pictures here that were unlike any I've ever seen.There is a picture for each day of the year but I could see no point in tying the pictures to the calendar.By this I mean,if the picture for May 16 were switched with the picture for Nov 10;there wouldn't be any difference;so what was the point.Furthermore, I can't imagine anyone reading this one day at a time;again what is the point?While there were some really interesting pictures;in many cases the explanation was very poor.At the same time, I enjoyed turning a page and being presented with a new scene.It was almost like travelling around the world,on a magic carpet,and dropping in on one amazing scene after another.This is what I felt merited 3 stars.However;to get the other 2 stars one would have to look to the description that accompanied each picture.Here is where the book comes up short.There also seems to be no theme to the book or even why these pictures were included rather than any others.It seemed to me that a group of people managed to get a lot of funding ,spent it running around the world,hiring helicopters and planes to get a lot of pictures,some of which were very different;package it all up for some exhibits and a book.All in all a nice collection of pictures;but then again National Geographic has been doing that for years but with a much better theme and purpose.
Finally,the picture for Oct.19,The Genbaku Dome is completely out of place in this book and included only for the purpoce of taking a cheap shot at the United States.Rather than being a "barbaric act";the USA played the major role of ending WWII,and the author would be well advised to consider who initiated the barbarism of WWII rather than who ended it.
I feel the people behind the book did a great disservice in allowing that remark to be included.

Rating:
Summary: a spell
Review: a cold milanese november afternoon, a good walk in the centre: how not to notice a gorgeous exhibition at open air: the Yann Arthus-Bertrand gigantic photographs were standing there. The spell was cast. I returned to Milan three times just to watch the pictures. The spell wasn't strong enough to make me spend the money they wanted for the "La Terra vista dal Cielo" book, on sale at the end of the exhibition. When I saw its English edition on Amazon, at that cheap price, I did not think twice and I ordered it.
It arrived yesterday (Puntual, everything OK: thank you amazon.com). The spell is still in effect. So great! My favourite pictures are two from Ivory Coast and one of the desert, the one with the camels' shadows walking in the sand while the animals are shot perpendicularly. Hey, but...who cares about my favourite photos? I hope you can watch and gaze, just like I do!
A good preview of the work is shown in the author's site (http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com)

Rating:
Summary: WHERE PICTURES ARE WORTH FAR MORE THAN WORDS
Review: EARTH FROM ABOVE is a massive tome that can be carefully read or just used as a beautifully constructed volume of aerial photographs by the French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The overwhelming result of this volume is a statement that simply cannot be ignored: our planet is in danger from both natural causes and the hideous manipulations of insensitive man on his environment.

Arthus-Bertrand shows aerial photographs of great beauty - as photographs ("There is beauty in the bellow of the blast!"). Forests, plains, oceans, rivers - all are examined along with the other surface areas of the earth to document dangerous evidence about our ignorance of ecology. Though there are ample written sections to explain each of the photographs, in the end it is the visualization of those heretofore platitudes by the few committed to ecology that drive the message home to us all.

This is a beautiful book: this is also a book that demands our attention to our planet. A Fine addition to any library and a caring gift for friends and cohabitants of Earth.
Grady Harp, December 2004

Rating:
Summary: A world above
Review: I seldom buy books on impulse. This volume? I saw it and bought it. Use all the superlatives here. Not that the photography is spectacular which it is, not that the subjects are perfectly framed which they are and not that the colors are strikingly vibrant which as you will see is true. But even if all these things were not true this book transports me to hundreds of places I want to go. They are pictures of places I dream of all over the world. And let me tell you a story. My dad is in the hospital with little chance of recovery [82 and has had a good life] I know he has always wanted to travel but because of life circumstances he has not. In this book there are 365 pictures of all the places he's always wanted to go. I held each one up to him as he lay in his hospital room and he wept with the dreams that never happened. I love this book and have bought two more since as gifts. Simply the best and I never buy picture books.

Rating:
Summary: it does NOT show CITIES of the world
Review: I'm very disappointed about this book.
Because it doesn't show the mayor world cities
from the air, like New York, Los Angeles,
Paris, London, Beijing, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels,
Madrid, Rome, Athens.
The auther only shows some air (-close ups) from
landscape/landscapemarks, people.
Although, the quality of the photographs and paper is
very good/excellent.

Rating:
Summary: to remember the trondheim exhibit!!
Review: the photography is amazing. i think that this book is probably on the wishlist of everyone who was at isfit 2003! it's a great way to take home the exhibit and remember a bit of the festival in trondheim!!

Rating:
Summary: Beautifull pictures and a heavy weight !
Review: This is a very big book. This is very heavy. I like to watch this amazing pictures. I may offer you!

Rating:
Summary: Exhibit is the only thing better!
Review: This is a wonderful book, one that you can spread in front of yourself and a loved one (it is a big, heavy tome). The captions do tend at times to "leap" to moralizing remarks about matters ecological, but that's fine with me, especially given the depressing political attitudes toward conservation over the last few years. Anyone who can nudge public opinion back to concern for the environment is doing a real service. A few minor complaints about the book, though: 1. Those who have seen the outdoor exhibition of these images in London or Paris will find the versions here are not quite as tight or vibrant. 2. The spreading of the images across two pages breaks many of the powerful views down the middle. (I wonder if the 24-hour format is bound differently, as it appears on the Amazon site.) 3. Perhaps the most striking image, one of the great dromedary caravan photos (P. 173) appears only on the caption flap in miniature form. The large image to which it supposedly refers (pp. 178-79) has been replaced by a slightly different, and less powerful, image (cropped differently and with darker shadows obscuring the surreal Z-pattern of the dune-and-dromedary shadow). But these are petty objections. A wonderful book for fans of photography and nature, and a great gift.

Rating:
Summary: Erie coincidence
Review: When I turned the page to September 11th just recently, I saw an erie photograph of the destruction of 2 side by side square structures in Florida reminding me of the World Trade Center on that very date. When I checked the copyright and saw that the book was publisher in 2001, I thought it would have to be after September 11th and the author used this photograph intentionally on this date. But by checking the Amazon site I learned the published date was September 1, 2001. Though I know September is hurricane season in Florida, I couldn't help but think this was an erie coincidence.