On first glance it seems a little pretentious. A title like “Life” has a lot of implications, and to form any sort of art around a topic as large as life itself sounds a bit silly. But Frans Lanting probably gave his work this title for a couple of reasons. First of all, as the world’s foremost nature photographer (as claimed by some), Lanting has spent the better part of his life immersed in some of the wildest places in the world, searching for the best representations of this planet’s amazing ecosystems. Secondly, his newest collection, “Life,” is the culmination of this entire life’s work. Recognizing this, Lanting seems to have accomplished what he set out to do: document life in its entirety, past to present, left to right, plain and exotic, the whole gambit. After one sees his images, all ideas of pretentiousness or ridiculousness are cast away and what is left is a collection of images that defy our very sense of the world.

“Life is like a skin on the planet,” a monotonous voice states from a television screen in the center of the exhibit. Lanting describes his work as an attempt to picture life photo courtesy bell museum on planet earth, from its humble ocean beginnings to its complex and varied existence today. He suggests that the unifying force between all life on this planet is time. He does not believe that there are any separations in nature or on the earth for that matter. Lanting wanted to create a symbiosis of art and science, and to do so he used the art of photography. The result of such a combination is extraordinary. To Lanting, life is as important a force as the very processes that cause our planet to rotate, or for the continents to move. Life is the most important, dynamic and essential force on the planet.

The final form of this artistic work is the accompaniment of Lanting’s amazing photos with a musical score written and played by none other than Philip Glass. As you walk through the exhibit and look at all of the photographs, the ephemeral and cellular music Glass composed gives a voice to the images, making them both mysterious and wonderful. The Bell Museum has also used concrete examples of fossils and skeletons to go along with Lanting’s desire to express life on earth over time. From a plaster copy of the famous Berlin Museum’s Archaeopteryx (the famous fossil that links the evolution of reptiles into birds) to tortoise shells, the culmination of the art, the music, and the science behind it all brings the history of life on this planet to um, life.

Franz Lanting’s “Life” is on display at the Bell Museum of Natural History, here on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities until April 12, which gives you plenty of time to see it. On March 21 Franz Lanting himself will be appearing at the Bell Museum for a day-long workshop about nature photography and how he envisions his art. Tickets for this are $69.