Well-known aerial photographer Jann Arthus-Betrand on why he had to visit the world‘s last divided country
SPECTATORS of the incredible, and often difficult to distinguish, giant-sized aerial photographs lining parts of Nicosia’s old town could be forgiven for thinking that there is no serious environmental message behind Jann Arthus Bertrand’s exhibition, The Earth From Above. After all, word on the street is that these photos make you want to travel and even the image of Mexico is a vibrant patchwork of Latino colours until, upon closer inspection, you identify a rubbish dump probably the size of little Britain.
In fact, the 120 images, which took 14 years of field work, flying over 76 countries and taking 100,000 shots, depict the beauty of the Earth, while inspiring ways to protect the planet, and promote sustainable development. It is a stunning collection of photos consisting of Icelandic geysers, tulips on the outskirts of Amsterdam and Egypt’s Nile Valley, but the controversial Mexico photo upset some.
« Many Mexicans were disappointed that one of the main images I show of their country is that of a rubbish dump, when Mexico has one of the richest biodiversities in the world. But through this photo, I wanted to condemn the frenetic production of rubbish, which is common to the whole planet, and does not only concern Mexico. »
Indeed Bertrand’s pre-occupations seem to surpass Mexico and any other individual country for that matter, his vision being to create a portrait of the planet common to us all. The exhibition of original prints could right now be in any other city in the world, earning money and exposure for his cause. Instead, Bertrand has come to Cyprus, to donate his prints for free, to the last divided country in the world.
“From the sky,” he tells me, “you do not see borders, and even the line dividing Nicosia is invisible.” Wandering around Ledra street I found Bertrand’s sister Katrin. She explained how Jann’s dream was to visit the world’s last divided country and to photograph all of Cyprus starting with in the south. It transpires they had so many problems with the Turkish military they were unable to photograph the north. There are now five photographs in the exhibition which to date, has attracted more than 50 million viewers and expects to draw 300,000 in Cyprus.
Accompanying Katrin was Silvie Hartman, director of Hathor Art Production an organiser of the show.
“I discovered the work of Jan years ago. I thought it was impossible to bring it here but I told them that Cyprus was entering the EU and asked if I could get a better price. Jann offered the prints for free and Katrin gave me the boost to approach the sponsors.”
The staging of the exhibition has proved very complicated because it’s free and is outdoors.
Says Katrin. “It’s not interesting to have the photos in a museum, Jann is not an artist – he thinks that museums are just for the educated, this is for everybody. The captions are in three national languages because the dream is to cross boundaries.”
The photos taken in June last year marked the first time Bertrand visited Cyprus. What does Yann think of our isle? “I was surprised by the state of the coast, which is quite spoiled, but that’s not particular to Cyprus; it’s the same in many other countries. The photos of Cyprus were quite difficult to take because the weather was not ideal. It’s a pity because the hinterland of the country is magnificent.”
The hardest and also most rewarding pictures, he said, are those taken from a very high altitude such as Mont Blanc or Everest. “The helicopter door has to stay open so I can take pictures and it’s so cold that the films break. My fingers are so numb that I can barely press the button. From a human point of view, the photos of disasters are hardest: it’s hard to take pictures of people in terrible situations and to leave them there without being able to come to their assistance.”
Right now, Jann is in New Orleans taking photos of the recent disaster. Rather than launching a simultaneous exhibition, it is significant that he continues adding to his body of work and displays The Earth From Above as a whole.
« I don’t think that any one of my pictures in isolation can give a strong message on the environment. Only a body of images can make us understand the richness of its diversity or the complexity of our relationship with the the earth and our contemporaries. We are a whole with our environment: we live from it, we depend on it for our economic activities, our landscapes mould our social relations. This is the message I want to get across. And in one picture that’s impossible. »
On the subject of the US negating to sign the Kyoto agreement, Betrand believes it is facile to condemn the States, as the onus lies on consumer society. « There’s a difference between the Federal government and the initiatives undertaken by the States. A few examples: Los Angeles is at the cutting edge on many energy issues, the city of New York acts at the source to preserve its supply of drinking water by protecting forests and surrounding wetlands and despite Federal policy, 134 mayors from 35 States have voluntarily signed up to the Kyoto Treaty.
“Every one of us has an individual responsibility for the planet. Everyone has a role to play. Reintroducing common sense into our everyday habits, avoiding waste, finding out about the provenance of what we’re buying. It’s through individual mobilisation that together we can push political powers to work towards sustainable development. This is the great challenge that our generation must face.”
One of the most distinguishing and pleasurable facets of his work, is that it is often just the opposite, indistinguishable, perplexing. “The aerial vision has nothing in common with what you see from the ground. It’s the case with most of my photos. In Egypt, for example, when the people laying out the dates to dry saw the photo of the palms and the different blotches of colour created by the dates at different stages of drying, they could not recognise it.”
Currently he is working on a project called 6 billion others entailing interviews with men and women of all ages, nationalities and social classes, about the big questions underlining our lives: ‘what is happiness for you, what are your fears today, the last time you laughed, cried…’.
He says, “It’s a portrait of mankind today across the planet in an effort to understand why, while our individual preoccupations are common to us all, we still cannot manage to live together.”
l Earth From Above an Aerial Portrait of Our Planet. Open air exhibition by celebrated aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Eleftheria Square and Ledra Street. Until November 16.
