Night on Earth: Photographs by Art Wolfe

Big nonfiction projects like The End of Night and short form essays like "The Dark Side," have explored the concept of the loss of our night skies through the years and the issue has only been exacerbated (especially with the recent (devastating) opening up of the Tongass Forest a 'no-road' park). We would love to use this as a principle for the organization of the photos in the book (as well as the foreword that sets the tone for the images).

We've been imagining the photos to tell a story that works in conjunction with an essay/foreword written by a conservationist concerned with the night sky. Perhaps we would begin the book with the darkest images; the landscape and night sky, truly middle of the night shots, only to move subtly into shots with a bit of light in them and eventually images with human activity- the light growing all the while. We'd likely then shift the photos back into little light and then return to close the book with the darkest images of the sky. The photographic narrative here is intended to suggest the growth of human light activity throughout history but also an encouragement and suggestion for a return to a society that values the darkness (and makes an effort to change how our bulbs change the shape of the night - and how animals and other beings live inside of it).