Earth from Above is a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

-supported ecological project conceived and led by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The project includes a

photo essay A photographic essay or photo-essay for short is a form of visual storytelling, a way to present a narrative through a series of images. A photo essay delivers a story using a series of photographs and brings the viewer along a narrative journey. ...

-style collection of

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

produced by Arthus-Bertrand, in which the photographer captured vistas of

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

from various

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

during a ten-year period. It gave birth to a book also entitled ''Earth from Above'', of which millions of copies were sold.

Background

Arthus-Bertrand founded the Altitude Agency in 1991, the world's first press agency and

image bank Stock photography is the supply of photographs that are often licensed for specific uses. The stock photo industry, which began to gain hold in the 1920s, has established models including traditional macrostock photography, midstock photography, ...

specializing in aerial photography. The agency holds 350,000 "selected images" taken in more than a hundred countries. With a history of

environmental activism The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

, the photographer sought to exhibit his work at the Rio Conference in 1992, and eventually made a decision to document the condition of planet Earth.

UN sponsorship

In 1994, intent on conveying his perspective on

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

to other humans, Arthus-Bertrand successfully attained sponsorship from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the purposes of a long-term photographic project entitled, "The Earth From Above, Wild Animals, Horses, and 365 Days".

Book

Following the Rio summit, Arthus-Bertrand subsequently created a picture inventory of landscapes from across the world with each picture, and accompanying text, encouraging the reader to be responsible in their treatment of the earth. The book from the project, ''Earth from Above'' (French: ''La terre vue du ciel''), sold several million copies and was translated into over 21 languages.

Exhibitions

As part of a series of outdoor displays, the "Earth from Above" free exhibition was set up at the gates of

Jardin du Luxembourg The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. The creation of the garden began in 1612 when Mar ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, whereby the images appeared as big posters. At the conclusion of the first decade of the 21st century, the series of public exhibitions have been seen by over 200 million people.

Film

In 2007, Earth from Above was launched in a film format, broadcast on French national television as a 4-episode, 8-hour television series. The series, presented by Arthus-Bertrand, has been approved for four

seasons A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

(15 episodes) and was created over a four-year timespan.

References

External links

Yann Arthus-Bertrand's personal website

Altitude Agency
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Earth From Above 2007 films Films directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand Non-narrative films Photographic collections United Nations mass media