Twelve inches by twelve inches by twelve inches, the cubic foot is a relatively tiny unit of measure compared to the whole world. With every step, we disturb and move through cubic foot after cubic foot. But behold the cubic foot in nature—from coral reefs to cloud forests to tidal pools—even in that finite space you can see the multitude of creatures that make up a vibrant ecosystem. For A World in One Cubic Foot, esteemed nature photographer David Liittschwager took a bright green metal cube—measuring precisely one cubic foot—and set it in various ecosystems around the world, from Costa Rica to Central Park. Working with local scientists, he measured what moved through that small space in a period of twenty-four hours. He then photographed the cube’s setting and the plant, animal, and insect life inside it—anything visible to the naked eye. The result is a stunning portrait of the amazing diversity that can be found in ecosystems around the globe. Many organisms captured in Liittschwager’s photographs have rarely, if ever, been presented in their full splendor to the general reader, and the singular beauty of these images evocatively conveys the richness of life around us and the essential need for its conservation. The breathtaking images are accompanied by equally engaging essays that speak to both the landscapes and the worlds contained within them, from distinguished contributors such as Elizabeth Kolbert and Alan Huffman, in addition to an introduction by E. O. Wilson. After encountering this book, you will never look at the tiniest sliver of your own backyard or neighborhood park the same way; instead, you will be stunned by the unexpected variety of species found in an area so small. A World in One Cubic Foot puts the world accessibly in our hands and allows us to behold the magic of an ecosystem in miniature. Liittschwager’s awe-inspiring photographs take us to places both familiar and exotic and instill new awareness of the life that abounds all around.

A World in One Cubic Foot: Portraits of Biodiversity

Arts & Photography

Elizabeth Kolbert

Alan Huffman

W.S. di Piero

August Kleinzahler

Nalini M. Nadkarni

Jasper Slingsby

Peter Slingsby

Photography & Video

The University of Chicago Press

During a period of thirty-five years, from 1927 until 1962, a group of friends gathered to hunt, socialize, and savor good times in the vanishing southern wilderness. They convened at the Ten Point Deer Club in Issaquena County, the last wooded stronghold of the Mississippi Delta. Among the friends were P. K. and Florence Huffman, whose grandson is the author of this photographic record of happy times at the camp. By 1950 the Huffmans had made the hunting club their year-round home. They remained there until the woods were destroyed by developers and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. For more than three decades Florence photographed the land and the people who came to the camp. Her pictures, at once intimate, visually intriguing, and historically significant, record a world in which two powerful forces coexisted - the relentless drive of progress and the persistent draw of nature. Few other photographers of her day chose to document hunting and fishing scenes. The pictures testify to her eye for unique subjects and to her sympathetic view of the natural world around her. They give pleasure and surprises. Women hunters are seen among the men, and blacks are shown socializing with whites prior to desegregation. As a child in the 1950s and early 1960s Alan Huffman was there too. Throughout his life he has treasured the hundreds of pictures his grandmother took. He grew to appreciate not only the time and the place and its importance for his family and the other club members but also the club's larger meaning within southern and American cultural experience. In the skillful integration of his text with his grandmother's vintage photographs of camp life rituals, here is a vivid record of the waning years of one of North America's most prolific hunting grounds. Alan Huffman has been a farmer, newspaper reporter, and historical researcher. His essays and articles have appeared in The Oxford American, Mississippi Magazine, Mississippi Folklife, and other publications.

Ten Point: Deer Camp in the Mississippi Delta

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI

Alan Huffman has managed to combine the Civil War history with the science of human survival to produce one of the most

Sultana: Surviving Civil War, Prison, and the worst maritime disaster in American history by Alan Huffman (2009-08-02)

History

Americas

Smithsonian Books

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Books by Alan Huffman