With photography, Yann Arthus-Bertrand has captured the beauty of the Earth. Through video and film, his latest projects bind together ecology and humanism. For him, it's all about living together.

Why you should listen

Yann Arthus-Bertrand is perhaps the best known aerial photographer on the planet. He has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide of his seminal photo essay Earth From Above, a decade-spanning attempt to photograph all the vistas of the planet from the sky, whether by helicopter, hot air balloon, or anything else that flies.

Arthus-Bertrand seeks to uncover the story behind the landscape, not just create a pretty picture. Indeed, his subjects are not always photogenic -- his prints show poverty and strife as well as green tranquility; and everywhere in his work is the encroaching hand of humanity and its enterprise. He keeps close track of the coordinates of his locations, so other photographers may track their progress over time.

His newest project takes a different view -- focusing more closely on the people who live on this planet. Called 6 Billion Others, the project was a centerpiece of Pangea Day 2008.

With Luc Besson, he is working on the feature-length documentary Boomerang, to be shot in 60 countries.

What others say

“Yann Arthus-Bertrand is an aesthete with the soul of a moralist. He uses the beauty of the world to beguile you into a photograph in which a larger lesson awaits. His lesson is about the planet in jeopardy.” — Richard Lacayo, Time

Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s TED talk

More news and ideas from Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Environment

Q&A with Yann Arthus-Bertrand: The environmentalist behind the camera

June 5, 2009

Today, photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand launched his movie Home, an environmentally conscious tour of our planet through panoramic vistas that focuses on human impact — our mistakes and possibilities for improvement. Yann took some time out of this busy day to answer a few questions for the TEDBlog by email, going beyond his recent TEDTalk to […]

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Film

Capturing fragile Earth in wide-angle: Yann Arthus-Bertrand on TED.com

June 3, 2009

In this image-filled talk, Yann Arthus-Bertrand displays his three most recent projects on humanity and our habitat — stunning aerial photographs in his series “The Earth From Above,” personal interviews from around the globe featured in his web project “6 billion Others,” and his soon-to-be-released movie, “Home,” which documents human impact on the environment through […]

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Twitter Snapshot: Reconnect brings powerful images to TED2009

February 4, 2009

First, film producer Jake Ebert and director Jacques Perrin wowed attendees with footage from their new documentary “Oceans.” On the heels of that experience came Yann-Arthus Bertrand a photographer who has embarked on a project to connect us all. Here’s the reactions from TED2009 via Twitter: Saw audience members brought to tears by footage of […]

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