Photo exhibition "Living with Volcanoes"

A better understanding of the Earth is essential for the diversity of life and the future of human society.

People and volcanoes have been intimately linked since the begining of time. All over the world, men have accommodated the anger of the Earth but have also been able to take advantage of the benefits of volcanoes. Little by little, these once inexplicable phenomena entered the culture and the life of those who live at their feet. Sometimes the abodes of the gods, sometimes taboo places, volcanoes crystallize the fragile balance that governs the place of mankind on this living planet that is Earth.

UNESCO's International Geosciences Programme is organizing a photographic exhibition "Living with Volcanoes" developed by Arnaud Guérin, geologist, photographer, and author. Thirty-one photos taken in Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Indonesia, Iceland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Tanzania and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be shown on UNESCO's gates, Avenue de Suffren in Paris.

More than a simple trip to the four corners of the world to discover this fused relationship between men and volcanoes, Arnaud Guérin, a geologist specializing in volcanoes and professional photographer, looked for stories that allow us to better understand what volcanoes are, going beyond idealized representations of the mountains of fire and discovering how we can live at the foot of these giants with an eruptive and unpredictable character.

UNESCO is the only United Nations organization with a mandate to support research and capacity in geology and geophysics, and the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) is its flagship.

IGCP serves as a knowledge hub, it finances research projects, facilitates international scientific cooperation in the field of geosciences, promotes the sustainable use of natural resources and develops new initiatives in geo-diversity and geo-heritage, as well as in geohazards.