Flower Hat Jelly, California, USA © Frans Lanting/www.lanting.com.
As a resident photographer for National Geographic, Frans Lanting has long been at the forefront of nature photography, as well as camera technology. His visual feats have recently been collected into an extraordinary exhibit, LIFE: A Journey Through Time, on display at the Annenberg Space For Photography until March 20, 2016.
Consisting of 70 images organized as a “photographic interpretation of life on Earth, from the Big Bang to the present,” LIFE is simultaneously about the diversity and interconnection of all living things, revealed through the lens of a singular documentary photographer. Expansive natural vistas and portraits of intriguing organisms pop with brilliant hues, converging into a project that Lanting describes as,” A bigger world project– all science converging as a kinship between all of life.”
Tidal Surge, New Zealand © Frans Lanting/www.lanting.com.
Exclusive to the traveling exhibition’s presentation at the Annenberg is an original documentary short film and four short videos, giving the viewer an intimate look at what it’s like to be with Lanting in the field, as he photographs animals that seem to be peacefully aware of his benevolent presence. “Every situation is different as every animal is different,” says Lanting, “I am sensitive to that and must pay respect!”
Giant tortoises at Dawn, Galapagos Islands © Frans Lanting/www.lanting.com.
Spanning Lanting’s journey of photographic discovery, from remote locations such as Western Australia’s Shark Bay to Siberia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, LIFE is an enthralling look at one photographer’s mission to educate and involve all people in a heightened sense of ecological consciousness.
Frans Lanting at edge of volcano, Hawaii/www.lanting.com.
“We have the opportunity to really do something about stewardship,” says Lanting, “to take the 19th century concept of nature into the 21st concept of life that is all-inclusive.”
LIFE: A Journey Through Time, an exhibition by Frans Lanting in cooperation with the Annenberg Foundation and the Annenberg Space for Photography, runs through March 20, 2016, with seminars and workshops available February 11, 2016.
