Over: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point

by Alex S. MacLean, Bill McKibben (Introduction)

For more than 30 years, Alex MacLean’s aerial photographs have captured the evolution of the American landscape and the complex relationship between its natural and constructed environments that contribute to climate change. The American Landscape at the Tipping Point is an ambitious and visually breathtaking catalogue of the extraordinary patterns and profound physical consequences brought about by natural processes and human intervention. The book allows readers to visualize climate change and our culture's excessive use of resources and energy, which account for our oversized carbon footprint. It demonstrates the extent to which the human ecosystem, and our economic and social well being, are dependant upon our wise use of land and its resources. Over is divided into sections covering such as Atmosphere ; Way of Life ; Automobile Dependency ; Electricity Generation ; Deserts ; Water Use ; Sea-Level Rise ; Waste and Recycling ; and Urbanism . MacLean’s powerful photographs and insightful text make it clear that maintenance of the current American lifestyle is incompatible with a planet of diminishing natural resources and a finite atmosphere. Over compels us all to reconsider our basic assumptions about how we live, work, and play, and reveals that, while the challenges we face today are not insurmountable, the future depends on our collective vision, passion, and commitment.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography, Nature, Environment, Current Affairs

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Pilot and photographer Alex MacLean has flown his plane over much of the United States documenting the landscape. Trained as an architect, he has portrayed the history and evolution of the land from vast agricultural patterns to city grids, recording changes brought about by human intervention and natural processes. His powerful and descriptive images provide clues to understanding the relationship between the natural and constructed environments. MacLean’s photographs have been exhibited widely in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia and are found in private, public and university collections. He has won numerous awards, including the 2009 CORINE International Book Award, the American Academy of Rome’s Prix de Rome in Landscape Architecture for 2003-2004, and grants from foundations such as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting in 2014. MacLean is the author of eleven books including, Up on the Roof: New York's Hidden Skyline Spaces (2012), Las Vegas | Venice (2010), Chroniques Aeriennes: L'art d'Alex MacLean (2010), Alex MacLean: Given a Free Hand (2010), OVER: The American Landscape at the Tipping Point (2008), Visualizing Density (2007), The Playbook (2006), Designs on the Land: Exploring America from the Air (2003), Taking Measures Across the American Landscape (1996), Look at the Land; Aerial Reflections of America (1993) and Above and Beyond; Visualizing Change in Small Towns and Rural Areas (2002). MacLean maintains a studio and lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Amanda L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning with the Native American proverb, "Treat the earth well: It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children," what follows is a visual masterpiece and brutal exposé of the unsustainability of 21st century American existence. Though the primary theme is undeniably bleak, a compelling case is made for future viability, with a technical focus on alternative energy and the inevitable evolution away from sprawling 'Mcmansions' toward innovative urbanism as we breach population and resource capacity--- this all juxtapose super-size aerial photographs snapped on a small plane while he flew across country.

This work is so much more than a collection of photographs; each is insightfully captioned with compelling statistics. Each section (Atmosphere, Automobile Dependency, Electricity Generation, Water Use, Sea-Level Rise, Waste and Recycling, Urbanism) is thoroughly introduced with the photographer's own prose, proving to be articulate, inspiring and even heartfelt and anecdotal at times. Maclean is an ace on both a photography and a literary front.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The aerial photography in this over-sized coffee table book is as amazing and thought-provoking as the commentary is pointed. A picture is worth a thousand words, but these words are powerful too. Recommended reading for anyone interested in development and planning or concerned about sprawl, the environment and climate change.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for a paradigm shift. Top 10 book.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, eye opening book.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically a coffee table book. The photos in it have been taken by Alex Maclean as he piloted his own plane over the American landscape. The photos are very good, and the brief captions are generally useful. Each picture is tagged with the location, and at the beginning of each chapter is a little U.S. map with the photos in that chapter keyed to map locations.

The 2-3 page introductions to each chapter, written by Maclean, sometimes seems a bit disjointed and rambling, but it's not hard to understand what he is attempting to portray with the photos. A quick overview of the chapter is actually given in the table of contents, and this could easily serve as a quick and concise theme of the chapter. As an example, Chapter 3 is Automobile Dependency - The summary in the Contents states

In the last 100 years, this country has built a network of 4 million miles of roadways that, along with automobiles and inexpensive fuel, have allowed us to settle in a very diffuse way. This road network is currently dependent on the internal combustion engine, which is only 20 per cent energy efficient. As more people drive longer distances, the U.S. road network is subject to congestion resulting from a lack of capacity, longer vehicle trips, serious accidents, and delays caused by ongoing road maintenance.

Other chapters are entitled Atmosphere, Way of Life, Electricity Generation, Deserts, Water Use, Sea-Level Rise, Water and Recycling, and Urbanism.

The book overall is a photo documentary of America's journey over the last 60 years or so to the environmental precipice we are now standing on. Greenhouse gases, global warming, water depletion, sea-level rise (none of which can be actually shown photographically), together with suburban sprawl, over-development in arid landscapes, coal-powered electricity generation, and loss of wetlands (which can be) are the themes. These themes are amplified in the book's Introduction, written by Bill McKibben.

The book's environmental message is not really consistently delivered, but no matter. To me the book is a poignant photographic statement where we have come to. I'm afraid that in, say, 2050, anyone looking at this book of two generations past will likely just shake their heads, and perhaps cry.

[Canard Frère]

Un peu l'équivalent de La Terre vue du ciel, mais centré sur les stupidités urbanistiques et environnementales qu'on peut trouver aux USA (lotissements ou golfs au milieu de régions arides, canaux aux travers des marécages, immeubles au pied de la plage et bientôt les pieds dans l'eau, etc). On pourrait sans doute trouver des trucs aussi ridicules en Europe, ici les commentaires sont toujours intéressants même si toutes les photos ne sont pas exceptionnelles.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

great pictures

[Thitirat B. Luu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good to read. It make you smart. I recommended.