The heavens have supplied inspiration to visual artists for thousands of years, so why not a book of contemporary photographs that recasts the objects in our solar system as art? Beyond does just that, pulling together 295 of the most spectacular images taken by NASA's unmanned satellites over the last 40 years. Featuring four stunning 8-page gatefolds, with eloquent essays that explain the story behind the photographs, this is an astonishing work of beauty that on its own could inspire a whole new generation of explorers, artists, and poets.
Michael Benson is a journalist and maker of documentary films, including the award-winning Predictions of Fire (1995). His work has been published in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Nation, among other publications, and he has been a television (CNN) and radio (NPR) reporter. He lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia.