April 7, 2002 - July 7, 2002

On April 7, 2002 the Reading Public Museum will open Life on the Edge a photo exhibit by artist-photographer Anne Heimann. The exhibit will run through July 7, 2002.

In Life on the Edge, Heimann explores what naturalist Rachel Carson called "the primeval meeting place of earth and water": the precarious edge where the land meets the sea. Her photographs range from scenics to close-ups, portraits, and textures of some of the immense variety of animals and plants that live in these intertidal communities. The photos were photographed in North America, Hawaii and Puerto Rico and include both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. These amazing images include shores from sheer cliffs dropping 4,000 feet into the ocean on the Kaua'i Na Pali Coast to a shimmering blue glacier on Alaska's edge; close-ups of plants and animals that reveal the mostly hidden world of lower intertidal zones; and endangered Steller sea lions basking on a rock.

In addition to seeing these wonderful images, visitors will also have the opportunity to learn about the complex interrelationships of Life on the Edge: the intertidal zones and their inhabitants; the different saltwater shores: from placid bays to windswept rocks of ancient seas, studded with fossils 620 million years old; and the importance of protecting these fragile worlds and the highly adapted animals and plants that live there.

Anne Heimann states, "This has been an exciting but difficult show to put together, I am constantly astonished at the complexity and the abundance of life in these ever-changing communities that exist where the land and the sea meet. Now, more than ever, we need to pause to heal and refresh our senses by appreciating anew the beauty and harmony of the natural world and the wondrous continuity of nature's cycles. It is my hope that this exhibit will help to restore this sense of wonder as well as instill and strengthen our resolve to be the guardians of our environment, its biological diversity, and richness.

Artist and nature photographer Anne Heimann has exhibited widely in art, natural history and science museums, galleries, maritime centers and aquariums. Her work has appeared in numerous nature publications and is part of permanent exhibits both here and abroad. Life on the Edge is the third in her ongoing environmental photo series of Endangered and Threatened Species and Ecosystems.

Robert Metzger, Ph.D
Director, CEO, Chief Curator Reading Public Museum