July, 1969. Mark Edwards, lost on the edge of the Sahara, is rescued by a Tuareg nomad, who takes him to his people, makes a fire and produces a cassette player. Bob Dylan sings “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”. As Dylan piles image upon image, the idea comes to Edwards of illustrating each line of the song. In the years that follow, he travels to over 150 countries to photograph our headlong collision with nature. Hard Rain is the result — an unforgettable collection of photographs illustrating Dylan’s prophetic lyric.
Images from Edwards’ personal archive, plus contributions by Sebastião Salgado, Chris Steele-Perkins and others, combine with the words of rock music’s great, poetic writer to form the centrepiece of Hard Rain.
“There is now a widespread acknowledgement that human beings are changing the climate. But we are still in denial. The implications of global warming hover just outside the grasp of our imaginations. Bob Dylan’s piercing lyric, and photographs that conjure up a future too terrible to contemplate, bring alive the problems that are ours to solve.
“Will we, our governments, the faith community, business leaders, media and the arts be bold and brave enough to act? Or do we brace ourselves for a truly miserable descent into environmental and social collapse?”
Mark Edwards
Copies of Hard Rain are being sent to every prime minister and president in the world with a request that they outline their government’s plans to combat climate change and the related problems illustrated in Hard Rain. Replies will be posted as they come in.
View sample pages from the book
 |
|---|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
This site is a forum for debate about the issues that will define the 21st century. Be part of it. Email your contribution here and come back soon to see what other readers are saying.
To register for news, information and offers from Hard Rain Project, please enter your email below.
