Polar circles, tropical rainforests, wide savannahs, scorching deserts, glacier-covered mountains and solitary islands. Taking a last spin around Sebastião Salgado's Genesis exhibition in our Waterhouse Gallery I realised that were still so many images that I missed on my other visits. And just how amazing it is that this man has actually been to all these incredible places.
It must have been awesome to witness one of the Yali people perched on this bending tree in West Papua's misty mountains. Or be entertained at the Papua New Guinea Singing Festival by this intense-looking performer (below). Just imagine the thrill of coming across the cathedral-like iceberg in the Antarctic Peninsula, and being splashed by the southern right whale in Argentina's Valdes Peninsula. Unforgettable experiences mastered into unforgettable pictures.
It took Salgado eight years to produce his ambitious 'visual tribute to our fragile planet'. The exhibition gallery bustles with the life and landscapes that he has captured so passionately and powerfully through the medium of black and white photography. There are over two hundred photographs - in all shapes and sizes - to ponder over and just tomorrow and Sunday 8 September left to do it here at the Museum!
If you miss the exhibition at the Museum you can take solace through buying the book online. Or check Salgado's own Facebook Page for news of where the exhibition is travelling on to - more international venues are rumoured.
But in another eight years will some of the landscapes and communities he captures still be the same? If you want to know more about endangered species and their habitats in our world it's also the last weekend to see our Extinction exhibition. You can get a friend into Extinction for free when you buy a ticket for the Salgado exhibition with our 2 for 1 offer.
Hopefully there won't be much of a wait for more wildlife photography at the Museum because Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 opens to the public on Friday 18 October.