A photographic exhibition entitled Hard Rain: Our Headlong Collision with Nature is on display at the United Nations May now through June 12th.

Hard Rain is a photo essay by Mark Edwards, a photographer and founder of the photo agency Still Pictures, which brings together images shot over the past 40 years or so that are set against lyrics from Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. Dylan!?? That nasal-folksy-crunchy-’60s dude? Hippy-haters fear not as Edwards and crew are accomplished photographers with sharp aesthetic sensitivities unblunted by any potential aestheticization of their subject matter. Images from Edwards’ personal archive plus contributions by Sebastião Salgado, Chris Steele-Perkins and others are powerful vehicles for connecting our human souls with the souls of a planet and its life forms that, even in their passion, deserve to be portrayed beautifully as a means toward visualizing joyful solutions to our many ills.

Beneath a replica of the Sputnik satellite, with solar gain from three stories of windows in the United Nations’ Headquarters North-East Visitors’ Lobby, a labyrinth of images and text unfolded to those of us at the recent opening reception. The site is more than apt and quite moving given the ideals that the UN strives to embody (photos below). The exhibit coincides with the sixteenth Review Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development. With regard to the social justice piece, we touched on that with our coverage of the documentary Black Gold.

READ>> Black Gold Documentary: Producer/Co-Director Nick Francis Interview

WATCH>> THE BLACK GOLD DOCUMENTARY FILM TRAILER ON SustyTV >>

Also on display is a section of commentaries by Edwards and other notables such as David Bohm, J. Krishnamurti, James Lovelock and Jeffrey Sachs.

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BOOKS>> Hard Rain: Our Headlong Collision with Nature PLUS PHOTO GALLERY>>

WANT MORE? >> Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall LYRICS & VIDEOS WATCH >>

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