Below from Above: Aerial Photography

Seen from hundreds of feet in the air, humans engaged in activities on earth below look vulnerable, small, resourceful, insignificant and noble all at once. Swiss aerial photographer Gerster, whose pictures grace National Geographic and Omni, explores the mystery, enchantment and unpredictability of this dizzying art form in 90 often spectacular new photographs and 43 shots pulled together from previous books. Full-page color photos, juxtaposed side by side, play up universal patterns; Filipino fish traps eerily resemble salt pans near Senegal, a canyon mine's concentric circles echo a football stadium crowd. Gerster's story-captions are enlightening; one note explains that a magma lake inside an Ethiopian volcano crater looks like a bubbling hell because the skin of the lava continually breaks. The album proclaims Earth to be a precious resource not to be wasted. (July 15)