Guy Laliberté is one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil, he is also a photography fanatic. GAIA is the documentation of his experience in space featuring his photographs of Earth as seen from the International Space Station. Captivated by the beauty of the surface of the Earth, Laliberté's evocative photos show the colors and textures visible only 220 miles away. A stable subject and a moving photographer -- the ISS is moving at 17,500 miles per hour (about 5 miles per second), doing 6 tours of the earth every 24 hours ? made for truly original conditions. Using the Nikon D3S and Nikon D3X digital-SLR cameras, deserts resemble contemporary abstract paintings, cities rise up like mini-mountain ranges, and faces and figures are revealed in nature. Laliberté dedicated his personal spaceflight to raising awareness about water issues facing humankind, making his the first, in his own words, "poetic social mission" in space. Proceeds from book sales will go to Laliberté's One Drop Foundation, a non-profit organization created to fight poverty worldwide by ensuring that everyone across the planet has access to water, now and in the future.
