VEGAS / VENICE: Cambridge-based Aerial Photographer Alex MacLean on their Beauty and Fragility from the Air
Alex MacLean Landslides Aerial Photography, Jolene de Verges
Thu Jan 26, 01-02:00pm, 4-237
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
In his new illustrated book, American pilot and photographer Alex MacLean devotes himself to two cities that have more in common than the first two letters of their names: Venice and (Las) Vegas. Both cities exist in a difficult natural environment: one in salt water and the other in the desert. It requires enormous energy resources to keep them alive in locations hostile to settlement. Both cities are mythical places and, by virtue of their architecture and histories, magnets for mass tourism from all over the world.
Alex MacLean is the first person to attempt a visual comparison between these cities from the air, a comparison that opens our eyes to their structural similarities. In his latest illustrated book, he produces pictures of immense aesthetic power. At the same time, they illustrate the fatal dangers to which both cities are exposed through uncontrolled land speculation, thoughtless leisure and consumer activities, and a profligate approach to natural resources.
Contact: Jolene de Verges, 7-238, x8-5593, jdeverge@mit.edu
Sponsor: Libraries
Latest update: 10-Jan-2012
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