Hard Rain: Our Headlong Collision with Nature

So why is Hard Rain so stunning and so moving, and why does it feel so right? Part of the answer, of course, lies in the quality of the visual images. But the thematic bundling of these images with Dylan's song could still seem gauche or exploitative were it not for two factors. The most important of these is the sheer brilliance of the dialogue Edwards has created between the words and the images, the way they synthesise into some third form that combines the stillness of a picture with the urgency of a ballad. Edwards's conjunctions are so carefully and thoughtfully constructed that they enforce on the viewer a kind of tact that wards off mere voyeurism. -- Fintan O'Toole, Irish Times, 10 May 2008 July 20, 1969. As Neil Armstrong takes man's first steps on the moon, Mark Edwards is lost in a lunar landscape on the edge of the Sahara desert. He is rescued by a Tuareg nomad, who takes him to his people, makes a fire and produces a cassette player. Bob Dylan sings A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. As Dylan piles image upon image, the idea comes to Edwards of illustrating each line of the song. In the years that follow, he travels to over 150 countries to photograph our headlong collision with nature. Hard Rain is the result - an unforgettable collection of photographs illustrating Dylan's prophetic lyric. Images from Edwards' personal archive, plus contributions by Sebastio Salgado, Chris Steele-Perkins and others, combine with the words of rock music's great, poetic writer to form the centrepiece of Hard Rain. The book and touring exhibition will inspire readers to participate in the debate about how we can best address the pressing issues of climate change, habitat loss, and poverty. This revised, expanded edition includes essays by Robert May, John Elkington & Geoff Lye, Jonathon Porritt and David Bohm, and over 50 new photographs. A masterpiece that summons up the ghosts of our past and a vision of a future that is ours to change.