First Steps: Conserving Our Environment - Hardcover

Zammit-Lucia, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0979507103 ISBN 13: 9780979507106

Publisher: Matte Press, 2008

Synopsis

Making a quiet and cautiously hopeful statement about environmental protection, this spellbinding collection of photographs does not bombard readers with visual imagery or urgent calls for alarm. Instead it celebrates the ability of nature—all by itself—to enthrall and engage human sympathies. The photographs include many views of wildlife and wilderness, as well as scenes of human activity, and simple pieces of short commentary complement the images. A remarkable black-and-white portrait of a polar bear against a dark background is accompanied by a few sober sentences about its proposed listing as a threatened species, and a great picture of New York City and is used to paise the efficiency of high density: Manhattan uses less energy per capita than anywhere else in the United States. A resource section listing websites for organizations, green living, and environmental news and opinion is also included.

About this title

About the Author

Joe Zammit-Lucia is a conservationist and an award-winning photographer whose work has been featured in fine-art photography magazines and is included in The World's Greatest Black and White Photography. Organizations sponsoring his installations of words and images have included the United Nations; the National Museum of Natural History, Paris; and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, Florida. He donates all profits from his work, including proceeds from this book, to environmental causes. He lives in Sag Harbor, New York.

Reviews

Starred Review. In this series of stunning photographs, British photographer Zammit-Lucia celebrates the successes of the environmental movement and draws attention to the conservation work that remains. Zammit-Lucia is allergic to rhetoric, and his text, devoid of stridency, neutrally delivers extinction statistics and energy-saving tips. The images are what matter and best highlight our responsibility to imperiled habitats and species. The chapter Land & Sea juxtaposes dramatic landscapes (a deforested Sherwood Forest) and stark seascapes (a small boat adrift on dark water, closeups of coral and a diving whale) to accompany commentary on vanishing ecosystems. Arresting images of a near-extinct rhinoceros, a threatened polar bear and an endangered South Pacific palm tree illustrate threatened biodiversity. And in his Modern Living, section, Zammit-Lucia buttresses gorgeous cityscapes with his argument that cities are among the most environmentally friendly forms of human habitation, due to shared services, shorter travel distances and less wasteful distribution of heat and energy. Zammit-Lucia documents how suburbs ravage the environment while Manhattan uses less per capita of resources and energy than anywhere else in America. These surprising findings coupled with the raw emotional appeal of the photographs and a useful resource section distinguish this work as an aesthetic treat and a cogent call to action. (Apr.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Matte Press
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0979507103
• ISBN 13: 9780979507106
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 112