Pictures from the Surface of the Earth

By Wim Wenders

Wim Wenders, whose description as filmmaker, photographer, writer, and traveller is still inadequate, has for the past 30 years carried with him an old panoramic camera. In this collection of his pictures landscapes stretch into infinity, horizons divide the world into water,  earth and air, deserts and mountain ranges are overwhelming in their emptiness and silence; street fronts, whether in Havana, Houston, Texas or Berlin, draw our gaze to the very depths of civilization, or to the abyss of horror and destruction as at ground zero shortly after the attacks  of September 11 2001.

He captures vast stretches of barren terrain and sleepy backwater towns. The images resemble ready-made sets for his offbeat, melancholic films such as 1984's Paris, Texas.

‘Wenders has photographed cities and deserts, noting the odd and the spectacular with equal measure.... Now, as a book, the flavour and intensity of Wender’s work is well caught.... He takes us on a tour of the earth, observing its beauty and mystery while quietly underlining humankind’s role in both creating and destroying much of it.’
Emmanuel Cooper, Tribune

Pictures from the Surface of the Earth was reviewed in the 'Open Page' section of the Financial Times Magazine, click here to read the review.

The Times Arts correspondent Tim Teeman interviewed Wim Wenders about this collection of his photography. Read the full article here.