Georg Gerster

"'Paradise Lost: Persia from Above' is a unique photographic record of a fascinating part of the world, unfamiliar to many of us. Between 1976 and 1978, Georg Gerster, a pioneer of aerial photography, was granted rare permission to record the landscapes and cities of Persia. Resulting from more than one hundred different flights, these pictures depict key archaeological sites from ziggurats to ancient citadels, as well as architectural marvels and beautiful countryside. 'Paradise Lost' also provides rare glimpses of life in modern Iran, from popular ski resorts to densely-packed urban centres and vividly brings to life a place, period and culture that few people outside the country can witness."--Jacket.

"This book features many of the more exceptional landscapes and monuments of Iran as seen through the lense of one of the world's foremost aerial photographers, Georg Gerster. The photographs were taken between 1976 and 1978, are presented in six chapters, each authored by one or more scholars of international repute...[The book] takes the reader on an aerial odyssey that explores the country's infinitely varied landsapes; many of the more noted sites associated with Iran's rich prehistoric past; the storied capitals of the Achaemenid and Sasanian empires; the memorable monuments of Saljuk and Safavid Isfahan; and last but not least, on a journey that celebrates the age-old virtues of Iran's largely unsung vernacular mud-brick architecture." -- Cover.