Frans Lanting's "LIFE: The Unfolding Journey" presents a remarkable vision of the story of life on Earth from the Big Bang to the present that speaks to the future for all life on planet Earth. Seven years ago Lanting set off on a journey of photographic discovery that parallels new scientific insights about the history of life. His search has been wide-ranging and provocative, leading him from microscopic worlds to primordial landscapes that preserve time capsules of life's history. The result is a glorious celebration of planet Earth that inspires and informs through images and stories of the amazing biodiversity that surrounds us all. The journey culminates in a new vision of nature as a collective force that maintains our planet's atmosphere—the protective membrane essential to all life. At a time when humans are realizing their global impact on the atmosphere, LIFE sets the stage for seeing a path to the future that rises from an understanding of life's astonishing past.

Frans Lanting has been hailed as one of the great nature photographers of our time. His influential work appears in books, magazines, and exhibitions around the world, and has been commissioned frequently by National Geographic, where he has served as a Photographer-in-Residence. For more than two decades he has documented wildlife and our relationship with nature in environments from the Amazon to Antarctica. He portrays wild creatures as ambassadors for the preservation of complete ecosystems, and his many publications have increased worldwide awareness of endangered ecological treasures in far corners of the Earth. His books have received awards and acclaim: "No one turns animals into art more completely than Frans Lanting," writes The New Yorker magazine. His previous books include LIFE: A Journey Through Time, Jungles, Penguin, Living Planet, Eye to Eye, Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape, Okavango: Africa's Last Eden, Forgotten Edens, and Madagascar: A World Out of Time. Lanting has received numerous awards for his work as a photographer and conservationist, including top honors from World Press Photo, the Sierra Club's Ansel Adams Award, the title of BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year, and Sweden's Lennart Nilsson Award. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands inducted him as a Knight in the Royal Order of the Golden Ark, that country's highest conservation honor. Christine Eckstrom is a writer, editor, and videographer. She has collaborated with Frans Lanting for more than 15 years on assignments and fieldwork on every continent. She is the author of Forgotten Edens and a contributing author of 15 books published by the National Geographic Society. The editor of Jungles, Penguin, and Eye to Eye, she partners with Frans Lanting to produce books, videos, and other publishing projects from their studio and gallery in Santa Cruz, California.