Cotacotani Lake in Chile. (All Photos: © Bernhard Edmaier, 2015)
Between Argentina and Chile, across 5,000 frozen square miles, lies the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. It’s home to numerous glaciers, including Viedma, a vast body of ice that nose-dives, as a white-blue cliff, into Lake Viedma. Between 1994 and 2006, it was also found to have retreated almost 4,000 feet, with further evidence of thinning glaciers across the whole ice field.
The frozen mass that makes up the Southern Patagonian Ice Field is just a small part of the 71 percent of water that covers the earth, and just one example of the impact of climate change. From melting glaciers to rising sea levels, droughts to warmer oceans, our need—and concern for—water is now part of our daily news cycle.
Water has long occupied the attention of award-winning photographer Bernhard Edmaier. As a former geologist, he has photographed all of its awe-inspiring forms for his book Water. Published by Prestel, with an introduction by writer and geologist Dr. Angelika Jung-Hüttl, Edmaier brings to light the patterns, the beauty and the power of water.
Viedma Glacier, Argentina.
San Juan River, Utah, USA.
The Tagliamento River, in north-east Italy.
Disko Bay, West Greenland.
Thjorsa river, Iceland.
Findel Glacier, Switzerland.
Kakadu National Park, in Australia's Northern Territory.
Ari Atoll, Maldives.
The acidic crater lake in Maly Semyachik volcano in Russia.
Mackenzia Delta, Canada.
The cover of Water, published by Prestel.