The Eternal Sea
French marine photographer Plisson has taken hundreds of thousands of photographs of sea and shore, and created 40 previous books, though none quite as sumptuous as this magnificent volume. "It is the sea that I try to honor through my gaze," Plisson states, and he succeeds in spectacular vistas of ocean and sky; coastal landscapes that are fantastic, inviting, and forbidding; and dynamically composed pictures of every type of boat, from timeless dugouts to humongous high-tech vessels. Plisson's breathtaking photographs, many taken from low-flying aircraft, are at once precise in detail and painterly in mood. In his accompanying commentary, marine expert Buchet offers aptly poetic observations about the sea as a realm of myth and mystery, danger and exploration, prosperity and freedom. But he also delineates with bracing specificity the decidedly unromantic realities of worsening marine pollution and increasingly imperiled marine life. It's not too late to put a halt to overfishing, waste dumping, and other destructive practices, Buchet observes. Hopefully this gorgeous book will help raise consciousness.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved