This Is Mars offers a thrilling visual experience of the surface of the red planet. The multi-award-winning French editor and designer Xavier Barral has chosen and composed photographic frames, drawn from the comprehensive photographic map of Mars made by the U.S. observation satellite MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), to revel in the wonder of Mars. What Yann Arthus-Bertrand did with a light aircraft for The Earth from the Air , Barral does for Mars-by scouring tens of thousands of gigabytes of satellite photographs available from NASA, seeking out the most distinct images of the planet's surface. The result is visionary-a great science book, a unique artist's book, and a stunning object. The photographs are accompanied by an introduction from research scientist Alfred S. McEwen, principle investigator of the HiRISE telescope; an essay by astrophysicist Francis Rocard, who explains the story of Mars's origins and its evolution; and a timeline by geophysicist Nicolas Mangold, who demystifies some of Mars's geological history. Now available as a mid-sized, accessibly priced edition, This Is Mars will excite lovers of great photobooks, and everyone curious about the universe and beyond.

An exploration of photography's longstanding and generative relationship to the automobile. Since its invention, the automobile has reshaped our landscape, extended our geographic horizons and radically altered our conception of space and time, influencing the practice of photographers worldwide. This book shows how the car provided photographers with new subject matter and a new way of exploring the world. It brings together 500 works made by 100 historical and contemporary artists from around the world. Capturing formal qualities such as the geometric design of roadways or reflections in a rear-view mirror, these photographers invite us to look at the world of the automobile in a new way. Auto-Photo also includes other projects such as a series of car models that cast a fresh eye on the history of automobile design, created specifically for the Fondation Cartier show by French artist Alain Bublex, plus a comparative history of automobile design and photography, essays by scholars and quotes by participating artists. Featuring the works of both historical and contemporary figures such as Jacques- Henri Lartigue, Man Ray, Lee Friedlander and Jacqueline Hassink, the exhibition will show how photographers have continuously documented the impact of automobility on our landscape and lifestyle, and how in turn the automobile has reshaped the practice of photographers, providing them with a new subject, a new means of expression and a new way of seeing the world.

This Is Mars offers a previously unseen vision of the red planet. Located somewhere between art and science, the book brings together for the first time a series of panoramic images recently sent back by the U.S. observation satellite MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Since its arrival in orbit in 2006, MRO and its HiRISE telescope have been mapping Mars's surface in a series of exceptionally detailed images that reveal all the beauty of this legendary planet. Each image presents a six-kilometer-wide zone in which the planet's geography and its geological and mineralogical textures are revealed. Conceived as a visual atlas, the book takes the reader on a fantastic voyage-plummeting into the breathtaking depths of the Velles Marineris canyons; floating over the black dunes of Noachis Terra; and soaring to the highest peak in our solar system, the Olympus Mons volcano. The search for traces of water also uncovers vast stretches of carbonic ice at the planet's poles. Seamlessly compiled by French publisher, designer, and editor Xavier Barral, these extraordinary images are accompanied by an introduction by research scientist Alfred S. McEwen, principle investigator on the HiRISE telescope; an essay by astrophysicist Francis Rocard, who explains the story of Mars's origins and its evolution; and a timeline by geophysicist Nicolas Mangold, who unveils geological secrets of this fascinating planet.