Changing the Earth presents Emmet Gowin’s extraordinary aerial photographs documenting the profound impact of human activity on the natural landscape.

Through 92 richly detailed, quadtone black-and-white photographs, Gowin captures landscapes transformed by military testing, mining, industrial development, and agriculture. From nuclear test sites in the American West to battlefields in Kuwait and industrial sites in the Czech Republic, his images reveal an unsettling tension between visual beauty and environmental destruction. Often resembling abstract paintings, these photographs invite viewers to reconsider humanity’s relationship with the earth.

Published in conjunction with a major traveling exhibition, this beautifully produced monograph includes essays by Jock Reynolds and Terry Tempest Williams, along with an interview with Gowin by Philip Brookman. Changing the Earth remains a compelling exploration of photography's capacity to reveal both the fragility and resilience of our planet.

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Hardcover, fine linen cloth with photographically illustrated dust jacket

164pp, 92 full-page quadtone black-and-white plates, 13 × 11 in.

First edition, Edition of 8000

Publisher: Yale University Press / Yale University Art Gallery, 2002

ISBN: 978-030-009361-2