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Zed Nelson: 'The Anthopocene Illusion'

In the paper today was an image from Zed Nelson's book: 'The Anthropocene Illusion'. It's a painted wall in a zoo, but who is the painting for? Not the occupant of the cage... On his Facebook page, Zed says: After six years of working on ‘The Anthropocene Illusion’, the project (and I) have won the Sony World Photography Award 2025 .  It couldn’t be better timed with the book coming out on May 15 (on pre-sale now) .  Lovely to get some love and real support at a nerve-wracking moment in the project’s launch. . The short summary is: ‘While we destroy the natural world around us, we have become masters of a stage-managed, artificial ‘experience’ of nature - a reassuring spectacle, an illusion.’ In a tiny fraction of our Earth’s history, we humans have used our power to exploit the Earth and other animals. Scientists are calling it ‘The Anthropocene’ - the age of human. Since the industrial revolution we have broken our ancient bonds with nature and devastated the natural...
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All together

  You're looking at nearly a year's effort from the authoring team and production team. Proud of these as the Series Editor. Available to purchase from Collins or your usual textbook supplier. Feel free to buy in industrial quantities.

Ocean - with David Attenborough

A trailer has been released for the new film Ocean. OCEAN WITH DAVID ATTENBOROUGH takes viewers on a breathtaking journey showing there is nowhere more vital for our survival, more full of life, wonder, or surprise, than the ocean.  The celebrated broadcaster and filmmaker reveals how his lifetime has coincided with the great age of ocean discovery. Through spectacular sequences featuring coral reefs, kelp forests and the open ocean, Attenborough shares why a healthy ocean keeps the entire planet stable and flourishing. Stunning, immersive cinematography showcases the wonder of life under the seas and exposes the realities and challenges facing our ocean as never-before-seen, from destructive fishing techniques to mass coral reef bleaching.  Yet the story is one of optimism, with Attenborough pointing to inspirational stories from around the world to deliver his greatest message: the ocean can recover to a glory beyond anything anyone alive has ever seen.  Screening in c...

Earth Percent

Earth Percent  is an organisation that I heard about over the weekend at a Q and A with the Breton musician Yann Tiersen. EarthPercent invites artists and the music industry at large to donate a small percentage of their income, making change through organisations that meaningfully address the climate and nature crises. Over 250 artists and companies have already pledged their support. The idea is that nature is added as a collaborator / songwriter and therefore liable to receive royalties. These can then be spent on projects helping to protect nature.

GA Conference 2025 - a flying visit

A cross-posting from my GA Presidents blog. I was only due to be at the GA Conference for one day, which meant an early start for the drive over to Oxford from Norfolk. It's a real cross-country faff. Luckily I'd made some arrangements for parking which was easy enough to reach and close to the main social event of the trip. I was there for the Long Standing members meal . This is an annual lunch which is paid for by a previous member which allows those who are going along to the conference to meet up with former Presidents of the Association and network. Here's a picture taken at the restaurant where the meal was held. The food was delicious. There are quite a few former Presidents in the image. How many can you name? After that, it was a taxi up to Oxford Brookes University : the conference venue. I didn't plan to attend any sessions other than one... and I arrived too late for that one, but managed to speak to David Lambert who was presenting it. What I really wante...

Bonjour Paris! and Hockney

I'm just back from the 2nd of my Easter trips: this time to Paris .  It was a great trip, a real highlight of which was the David Hockney 25 exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton . The building itself is stunning, designed by Frank Gehry and looking like the billowing sails of a galleon from the front. It's in the Bois de Boulogne, which is a Metro ride out from the centre: a lovely area. Hockney was there himself the day before we visited, which was the actual opening day of the exhibition. Room after room of Hockney over four floors. The building of the Fondation Louis Vuitton - some Snapseed treatment which has made the reflecting pool of water at the top of a cascade a different colour in an unexpected way. Bigger Trees Near Warter or/ou Peinture Sur Le Motif Pour Le Nouvel Age Post-Photograpique 2007, measuring 12m by 4.5m. Largest of Hockney’s paintings and made up of 50 smaller canvasses of a landscape near the East Yorkshire village of Warter. Here's a YouTube t...

Latest book now available

Editor copies of my latest book project project - my 32nd book that I've been involved with - written by Becky Kitchen of the GA arrived this week.  They accompany the Student Book for iGCSE in the same series, and a Teacher Guide will be arriving shortly. The book costs £12.99