Review of Night on Earth by Art Wolfe
The other day while I was working at the library, I had some time to kill during my break. It wasn’t enough time to crack open a book but I noticed a book on the NEW shelf caught my eye. The cover picture was a beautiful image of the night sky. I picked it up and began to turn its pages.
What a delight to see the amazing photographs of the night sky! Pictures of the Aurora Borealis in the northernmost regions of the planet, the eerie beauty of the desert at night, the whiteness of the snow-capped mountains against a star-studded sky. At first, I was just thumbing through images, but this “journey” soon became a very personal one. It occurred to me that I had seen some of these very sights with my own eyes.
Wolfe’s photos took me back to a night that I spent (with 44 students) under the incomparable sky of Australia’s outback. I was astounded by the number of stars I could see when there are no city lights to interfere with nature’s magnificence. I started out trying to count the shooting stars but I soon gave up because there were too many to count.
The next section showed images of nocturnal animals with their eyes gazing out from the darkness. I was reminded that even though I may be sound asleep in my house, there is a lot of activity going on outdoors under the night sky. People all over the globe begin their daily chores under the fading starlight of the pre-dawn hours. Fishermen cast their nets in hopes of getting a good catch and getting it to market in time for the morning rush. In those early morning hours, women are already busy around campfires preparing food for the family.
Wolfe focused his lens on many rituals and ceremonies that take place at night. One particular picture brought back fond memories for me. Wolfe captured the magical glow of candlelight in the cemetery in rural Mexico on the Day of the Dead.
Even the sights that we see on a daily basis take on a more appearance at night. It is one thing to see the Statue of Liberty during the daytime but quite another to see her standing there in the harbor at night glowing like a beacon. It put a lump in my throat to think of all the hopeful people Lady Liberty has welcomed to our shores.
These night events become even more significant when we share them with other people. I remember a trip to Paris. The students and I were standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower at the moment when the night lights switched on. There was a collective gasp at the beauty of it.
Every time I visit my daughter in Hoboken, New Jersey, I have to visit the waterfront. The skyline of Manhattan is awesome in the morning sun, but when I see the skyscrapers lit up at night it fills me with wonder.
In the end, what I thought was going to be a simple exercise at looking at beautiful pictures turned out to be a wonderful trip down memory lane. What a great way to spend 15 or 20 minutes. Even if you haven’t been to these places, all you have to do is put Wolfe’s Night on Earth onto your lap and the photographs will transport you to another world.
The library has many over-sized books with beautiful pictures that can have a mesmerizing effect on us. Check one out.Or simply take a few minutes to sit in one of the comfy chairs at the library and take a short mental vacation. You will be glad you did. I was!
- Sherrel
