Until last week I had never heard of Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the aerial photographer who spent two years filming the earth from a helicopter. The result of his unusual work was his bestselling book The Earth from the Air, which was published in 2010 and has already sold a staggering 3.5 million copies. His website is well worth a look and it made me realise that although I hadn’t heard his name until relatively recently, I recognised many of his photos. A photographer at his best, I suspect.

One photograph in particular struck a memory chord and upon reflection, I realised that I had seen it before. In fact it provided part of the inspiration for one of the iconic scenes in The Human Race. It is Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s image of the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, pictured above.

What drew me to it back then and still does today is that it beautifully captures the residents of Iceland living in perfect harmony with their surroundings. Icelanders utilise the plentiful geothermal energy on their doorstep both as a nationwide heat source and a leading tourist attraction. Yes, you can actually relax in the runoff of a power plant and the blue water really is that incandescent!  I couldn’t imagine us doing the same at Drax Power Station near Selby!

Most of Iceland is this picturesque and Arthus-Bertrand clearly agrees, if some of the other photos that made it into his book are anything to go by. They include this photograph of the Maelifell volcano, bordering the Myrdalsjökull glacier.

For me, Iceland presents Mother Nature in all her glory and fury. Man ignores her at his peril. She dominates the ever shifting landscape with her dormant lava fields, active volcanoes, jittery geology, geothermal power, Northern Lights, the eternal sunshine of summer and the permanent blackness of winter. You can’t escape her embrace and the Icelanders have given up trying. They have learned to live alongside her.

The power of Mother Nature is a central message of The Human Race and perhaps it is one that we would do well to master, given what happened in Japan two weeks ago. It took less than thirty seconds to bring the third richest country in the world to its knees – and Japan was supposedly prepared for such an eventuality.

This brings me back to Arthus-Bertrand. He has just released a new film called Home, which continues the theme of his book. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words; in the case of Home, this is an understatement. Over 1.5 hours Arthus-Bertrand beautifully captures the impact of mankind’s consumption, destruction, mutilation and submission of the Earth to meet our insatiable appetite. I find the film fascinating and so, it seems, do millions of others: it has more than 15 million hits on YouTube!) You can watch the full video here. The trailer is below.

Incredibly, Home has not yet been shown in the UK. There is no good reason for this: Arthus-Bertrand is so keen for everyone to hear his message that he is willing to distribute Home for free. As he states in his eloquent intro to the movie:

“We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth’s climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free… HOME has been made for you: share it! And act for the planet.”

I agree with him, and I highly recommend Home. It is moving stuff and may change your mind about how we treat the Earth. If it does, then Yann Arthus-Bertrand has done his job – and hopefully, so have I.

This post was selected for the 6^th April 2011 edition of Everything Home Blog Carnival, hosted by My DIY Home Tips, The Mad Editor’s Round-Up #29, hosted by Diary of a Mad Editor and the May 31^st 2011 edition of Byteful Travel Blog Carnival, hosted by Byteful Travel.

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