George Steinmetz: Photos of Africa, taken from a flying lawn chair
جورج شتاينميتز: صور لإفريقيا مأخوذة من على كرسي حديقة طائر
Best known for his exploration photography, George Steinmetz has a restless curiosity for the unknown: remote deserts, obscure cultures and the mysteries of science and technology. Full bio
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intimidating being up here,
trying to tell Africans
can see things in a different way,
يرى الأشياء بشكل مختلف،
all over the African continent
في جميع أنحاء قارة إفريقيا
the spectacle of its diversity.
his way through the Ituri Forest of Zaire.
إلى غابة إيتوري في زائير.
of Stanford University,
to Kisangani to Cairo
on 10 dollars a day.
in this Dinka cattle camp
في مخيم دينكا للماشية.
how to tie papyrus into a shelter,
مأوى من ربط البردي،
how they had adapted their way of life
تأقلم الناس مع طريقة حياتهم
of their beloved cattle.
in ecological ethnography,
في الإثنوغرافيا الإيكولوجية،
ride on the roof of the trucks,
يركبون على سقف الشاحنات،
going across South Sudan.
عبر جنوب السودان.
on the back of an insect
tapestry of Africa.
if I could fly over that landscape
فوق تلك المناظر الطبيعية
a professional photographer,
إلى ناشيونال جيوغرافيك
in the central Sahara,
of flying machine.
and slowest aircraft.
and a parachute-style wing,
وجناح كالباراشوت،
I can fly for about two hours,
أستطيع أن أطير لساعتين تقريباً،
is it gives me an unobstructed view,
أنها تعطيني مشهدًا بدون عوائق،
of flying over Africa came true
بالتحليق فوق إفريقيا أصبح حقيقة
passing out in the middle of the Sahara.
تمر وسط الصحراء.
is carrying salt out of the desert,
is carrying fodder
this kind of picture
هذا النوع من الصور
with too much downdraft,
بالقرب من الأرض،
aircraft I was flying
remote parts of the African landscape
لرؤية الأماكن البعيدة الإفريقية
really been possible before.
but I am not some kind of adventure dude.
ولكنني لست من ذاك النوع من المغامرين.
and I only fly to take pictures.
is between 200 and 500 feet,
three-dimensionally,
over the years in Africa,
على مدار السنين في إفريقيا،
for exploration.
لم تُصنع للاستكشاف.
20 minutes of battery life
20 دقيقة من عمر البطارية
is what's on a little screen.
and find new things, find weird stuff,
وأجد أشياء جديدة وغريبة،
on my left leg,
a mile above takeoff.
is actually your friend,
هو في الواقع صديقك،
to figure out your problems.
I figured this gave me more time
I started taking pictures,
by a Harmattan wind
right hand corner of this picture,
الزاوية اليمنى في هذه الصورة،
the entire crater with sand.
فوهة البركان أكملها بالرمال.
I found a different kind of volcano.
وجدت نوعاً مختلفاً من البراكين.
exteriors stripped away,
with its living skin stripped away.
by an enormous freshwater aquifer.
خزان هائل من المياه العذبة.
sometimes you can see it leaking out.
يمكنك أحياناً أن ترى أنه يتسرب.
through those palm groves,
من خلال بساتين النخيل تلك،
out of your footsteps.
من مكان آثار أقدامي.
it's saltier than seawater
بسبب التبخر الشديد،
a different kind of desert spring.
نوع مختلف من الربيع الصحراوي.
with spring water
مع مياه الينابيع
it turned into a spectacle of color.
for looking at agriculture.
بالنظر إلى الأراضي الزراعية
in southern Algeria,
how to garden in a mobile dune field
كيفية الإعتناء بحقل الكثبان المتنقلة
من المياه الجوفية الضحلة.
have adapted to the African landscape.
الحيوانات مع المشهد الإفريقي.
the shallow lake water up
with their long trunks,
امتلاءً بالسوائل.
how to thrive in an environment
كيف ينمو في بيئة
by the dense coastal fog
الضباب الساحلي الكثيف
to understand what causes them.
لفهم سببها.
crater lake in its summit at 3,700 meters.
في قمته عند 3700 متر.
between Rwanda and Congo.
for the fabled mountain gorilla.
للغوريلا الجبلية الأسطورية.
the big money-maker in Rwanda,
من أكبر صناع المال في رواندا،
conservation has become a huge success.
يُعد الحفاظ عليها نجاحًا كبيرًا.
rural population density in Africa,
في الكثافة السكانية في الريف في إفريقيا،
of the country I went to.
من البلاد ذهبت إليها.
that competition for land
that led to the tensions
التي أدت إلى التوترات
في التسعينيات.
a few years ago,
how much things had changed.
كم الأشياء التي تغيرت.
with their cattle,
their spears for Kalashnikovs.
were even more spectacular
but things had changed there too.
ولكن الأمور تغيرت هناك أيضاً.
their papyrus shelters
التابعة للأمم المتحدة.
have learned how to thrive
قد تعلموا كيفية الازدهار
of the Niger River.
and the water subsides,
in the fertile bottoms.
in the lower right corner,
for the major trade routes
لطرق التجارة الرئيسية
their roofs and the village mosque.
لتشديد أسقف منازلهم ومسجد القرية.
villages like this along the Niger River,
من القرى على طول نهر النيجر،
it had a different pattern.
وله نمط مختلف.
a sculptural masterpiece,
and nothing can really compare
ولا شيء يمكن مقارنته
and cultural adaptations to them
into the earliest waves
في بداية موجات
mountains of Libya,
in 700 BC, as a learning center,
في 700 قبل الميلاد، كمركز للتعلم،
in what's now Algeria
فيما يعرف الآن بالجزائر
for old Roman soldiers,
للجنود الرومانيين القدماء،
the breadbasket for the Roman Empire.
سلة الخبز للإمبراطورية الرومانية.
it was buried in sand,
دفنت في الرمال،
was wetter than it is today.
كان أكثر رطوبة مما هو عليه اليوم.
came barreling out of the Sahara
خرجت منطلقة من الصحراء
date palms in snow,
أشجار النخيل في الجليد،
throwing snowballs at each other.
برمي كرات الثلج على بعضهم البعض.
how are Africans going to adapt
كيف يتجه الأفارقة إلى التكيف
climate going forward?
and diverse as Africa,
that the only constant is change.
فى الارتجال على الإطلاق،
are the ultimate improvisers,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
George Steinmetz - Aerial photographerBest known for his exploration photography, George Steinmetz has a restless curiosity for the unknown: remote deserts, obscure cultures and the mysteries of science and technology.
Why you should listen
Since 1986, George Steinmetz has completed more than 40 major photo essays for National Geographic and 25 stories for GEO magazine in Germany, exploring the most remote stretches of Arabia's Empty Quarter to the unknown tree people of Irian Jaya. His expeditions to the Sahara and Gobi deserts have been featured in separate "National Geographic Explorer" programs. In 2006 he was awarded a grant by the National Science Foundation to document the work of scientists in the Dry Valleys and volcanoes of Antarctica.
Steinmetz began his career in photography after hitchhiking through Africa for 28 months. He then spent fifteen years photographing all of the world’s extreme deserts while piloting a motorized paraglider. This experimental aircraft enables him to capture unique images of the world, inaccessible by traditional aircraft and most other modes of transportation. He has authored four books, and his current project is documenting the challenge of meeting humanity’s rapidly expanding demand for food.
George Steinmetz | Speaker | TED.com