Show summary Hide summary
Frankly, Yann Arthus-Bertrand is that photographer who makes you see the Earth differently. Born in 1946 in Paris, he is now 78 years old. I swear, his aerial work is not just a simple click, it’s a true quest, and he is 1.78m tall, just to better dominate the sky and landscapes.
Before becoming the world-famous star we know, Yann was passionate about animals and wild spaces. At 30, he embarked for three years to Kenya, with his wife Anne, to study a lion family. And there, surprise, it was with a camera that he captured his first images, something that would define him forever.
Back in France in the 1980s, he published his first book, simply titled “Lions.” What always impressed me was his bold shift from wildlife photography to major reporting. In 1991, he founded Altitude, the world’s first aerial photography agency, an incredible pioneering achievement.
I tell you, his passion is to make us think about our relationship with nature, both wild and domesticated. He is also the founder of the GoodPlanet foundation created in 2005, a true platform for raising awareness about ecology and humanism – his fights are not just on paper, it’s concrete.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, passionate photographer and recognized environmental activist
Did you know this guy started behind a lens observing a lion family in Africa? He’s no ordinary person. Born in Paris, he is a real globetrotter of photography and an adopted Alsatian at heart, so much does he love France and its landscapes. He has become a symbol of aerial imagery.
He grew up with the idea that photography was not just about capturing a moment, but telling a story, a real testimony. You can feel it in his collections like La Terre vue du ciel. His approach? A mix of sensitivity, politics, and wonder.
Between his work and the presidency of the GoodPlanet foundation, he found a way to marry art and ecology. He has even been a “Goodwill Ambassador” for the United Nations Environment Programme since 2009, an acknowledgment that clearly shows where he stands in his fight.
And then, he has this incredible talent for making us travel with his photos, whether aerial or committed portraits, not forgetting his powerful documentaries and his involvement in education, notably with free school exhibitions to raise awareness among young people.
From Africa to the rooftops of the world, the extraordinary journey of an engaged photographer
I find it stunning, at 30, he went to study lions in Kenya for three years, completely immersed. He hadn’t planned to become a photographer, but that’s when he realized that images could tell a different story, a real shock for him. His first book, Lions, was published after that stay.
In 1991, he launched Altitude, the first agency exclusively dedicated to aerial photography, a revolutionary idea that led him to fly over more than a hundred countries with his team. I assure you, aerial photography is a job of patience, organization, and luck with the weather.
His secret? He prepares everything down to the smallest detail: flight permits, location choices, weather, coordination with pilots. You have to spend months convincing sometimes paranoid authorities about aerial flights. This craftsmanship to get the right image commands respect.
And behind every shot, a story, a message, a legend. He works notably with Isabelle Delannoy, an agronomy engineer, to fine-tune the explanatory texts accompanying the images and raise awareness about sustainable development. His image bank already counts over 300,000 shots!
A global face of planet defense and his numerous current projects
Yann is also an experienced filmmaker. His film Home in 2009 left a mark, simultaneously broadcast worldwide. It was seen by nearly 600 million people, an incredible record. This adventure propelled him even further in his ecological commitment.
Since then, he has multiplied documentaries, from Human to Woman, the latter paying tribute to women worldwide with testimonies collected from 60 countries. Yes, three years of shooting, it’s absolutely crazy.
He has also just launched an unprecedented place in Paris, Le Domaine de Longchamp, to combine art, humanism, and ecology. A free space, breathing engagement and inviting everyone to reflect on our way of living with the planet.
To follow this giant of imagery and his foundation, you can also visit his official website or discover his photo exhibitions that speak for themselves. I also recommend checking out his YouTube channel, a true compilation of his works and messages.
The behind the scenes of aerial photography according to Yann Arthus-Bertrand
What has always fascinated me is the complexity behind his sky shots. It’s not just looking up, pressing a button, and there you go. No. You need long permits to get, an outstanding pilot, an assistant with 8 cameras (yes, 8!), and perfect weather, often after days of waiting.
For flights, Yann uses a helicopter in Europe, but in some countries, lacking resources, sometimes you have to settle for an ultralight aircraft or even a parasail. And then, each image is meticulously annotated with GPS coordinates so that the evolution of the places can be studied later.
The image processing after flight is already another world: sorting, scanning, captions edited by specialists. It’s a long-term job, almost scientific, that gives all the value and impact to his photos.
- 📸 Rigorous choice of locations to photograph, between iconic sites and easy access
- 🌤 Key weather for quality, with sometimes entire days of waiting
- 🛩 Long and difficult administrative permits to obtain
- 👨✈️ Crew: pilot, assistant and photographer in perfect harmony
- 💾 Precise archiving with GPS coordinates and captions for posterity
You can discover even more about this atypical journey and his work via his Wikipedia page which I find very complete and fascinating, a good starting point for all who want to dive into his universe here. And if you want to dig on the ecology side, this article about his activist commitment is great.
