Going, Going, Gone
We humans are a strange breed. Throughout our history we've managed to bring forth engineering projects on a staggering scale, such as The Great Wall of China. Graceful structures spanning continents and millenia testify to the ancient beliefs and aesthetic refinement of cultures that could have much to teach us. The backdrop for these marvels of human ingenuity is the natural wonder of the Earth itself, at one time a source of spiritual and material sustenance. But rather than cherishing all this, we have systematically destroyed the best of what we have inherited from those who came before, either through neglect, greed or intolerance. And what little remains, is going fast.
That's the bittersweet message inherent in any kind of preservation effort and it certainly comes through loud and clear on world-heritage-tour.org, an ambitious effort to photograph UNESCO World Heritage List sites. The project is the effort of Belgian photographer Tito Dupret, who has spent seven years so far shooting sites across the globe, from China, Tanzania, Indonesia, Iran and India, to Egypt and the Middle East. The site was recently relaunched, with the photographs displayed having been created with REALVIZ panorama assembling software, Stitcher Unlimited. Hats off to REALVIZ for its role as official sponsor, since the resulting interactive Flash-based panoramas are a perfect way to convey the power of the various sites.
Since I live around the corner from the Old Quarter of Lyon, which is itself a World Heritage site, I began exploring the images for that first and was a bit startled with the opening screen, shown above, which was taken just down the river from where I'm typing these words. The Lyon shots were satisfying enough (despite the English version referring to the city as "Lyons") but I was soon happily wandering the globe, discovering things and places to add to my ever-growing "must visit this some day" list.
Despite the support of the J.M. Kaplan fund, more sponsors are clearly required to build out the site and especially add some text to create context for the photographs. It's a worthy effort and I hope Dupret can complete the project. The condition of The Great Wall of China, you ask? Well, it's a mess, I'm afraid. But don't overlook the incredible 6th-century Yungang caves. It would seem that keeping something underground, tucked away from the ravages of our fellow humans, is really the only chance anything has of surviving. That and the feeble flicker of desire to not let the best of our short time here on Earth turn to dust and blow away.
Chris Dickman
Graphics.com
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