planosphere.com (coming soon... perhaps!)

Planosphere is a celebration of our beautiful and inspiring world and of the life that fills it. But it is also, inevitably, a lament for the increasingly rapid destruction of the planet, of its resources and of the cultures of its human inhabitants through the greed, hypocrisy and recklessness of politicians, multi-national industries, the WTO and World Bank, and other forces beyond the realm of real democracy.

This is the test version of Planosphere. The site will be fully online by the end of 2004, with close to a thousand photographs accompanied by articles, stories, and prose poems. In the meantime, there are several pages of photos for your viewing pleasure, plus a Saharan travelogue, and the world's biggest (aka only) website about the traditional music and cultures of Kenya. Enjoy!

Words and images: Jens Finke



Lake Magadi, Kenya
Weird and beautiful salt and soda crystal formations in Lake Magadi, Kenya's least hospitable environment. Chaos is never far from the surface.
www.planosphere.com/photos/kenya

Lebanon
Just a few pictures but worth it for the gorgeous vase and the weird angle on a brass plate!
www.planosphere.com/photos/lebanon

Kenya
A small selection of some of my favourite photos from Kenya. No wildlife, mostly landscapes, details and abstracts.
www.planosphere.com/photos/kenya

Tunisia
A small selection of some of my favourite photos from Tunisia. Like the Kenyan selection, this is just a random selection, with no texts as yet.
www.planosphere.com/photos/tunisia



Amazon Rainforest, Brazil
(offline)
Shots from the flooded rainforest canopy of Urubu ("Vulture") River in Amazônia State, together with plant abstracts from both Amazônia and Mato Grosso.

Chott el Djerid, Tunisia
(offline)
Crystalline photography from one of the Sahara's largest salt pans. Some of the motifs are meditatively simple in a Zen kind of way, others belie the complexity of true chaos.

Lake Manyara, Tanzania
(offline)
More chaos, this time in the more fluid medium of algae and moulds growing in the run off from Maji Moto ("Hot Water") springs by the shore of Lake Manyara, lying in the Rift Valley in northern Tanzania.

Medinas, Tunisia
(offline)
Atmospheric architecture, street scenes and details - a play on light and shadow from the medieval medinas of Bizerte, Kairouan and Tunis.

Ilha da Armona, Portugal
(offline)
The sand bank island of Armona is a favourite holiday spot for Portuguese families in summer, but in winter the crowds disappear leaving only the natural elements to impact on the beach. This series was shot over several years during winter and spring.

Serra do Alvão, Portugal
(offline)
Some beautiful veiny rock formations from this massif in northern Portugal.

Chasing the Lizard's Tail
Across the Sahara by bicycle. Complete travelogue describing an epic journey through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia.
www.bluegecko.org/lizard

Traditional Music & Cultures of Kenya
The world's largest and most comprehensive resource about traditional Kenyan music and cultures, with 500 pages, 200 photos, 100 sound clips and counting...
www.bluegecko.org/kenya