Today we’re taking a peak in the field of aerial photography, a type of photography that has its roots in France’s 1858 when balloonist Gaspard-Félix Tournachon practiced it over Paris. Although its uses extend over cartography, land marking and artistic projects, we’re just going to stick to its environmental use.

Does any of these pictures look familiar? Well, its most probable that you’ve seen them around National Geographic or, for those with an eye towards the environment in the 2009 movie Home. The author is French photographer and environmentalist Yann Arthus Bertrand and the pictures are part of the project Earth from Above, a collection of aerial photography which tries to express the beauty of our planet.

Yann Arthus Bertrand has been taking large scale photography from balloons and helicopters for five years and has covered six continents. Earth from above is his epic collection of wandering around the world and capturing what is most expressive. His work is astonishing and has been exhibited all over the world and has been released in the form of a book and a DVD. Now that’s what I call environmental art. Enjoy!

Photo credit: Yann Arthus Bertrand.