04. James F. Bell, Astronomy
James Bell
Postcards from Mars (Dutton, 2006). Heavy and sleek, with foldout panorama shots, landscapes, and close-ups of some of the most important scientific finds, Bell’s new book provides a comprehensive narrative in words and pictures of the Mars Exploration Rover Mission. Bell wanted to present the beauty of what humans had never before seen in an art book, not a book about space. In a place where everything is dramatically different from Earth—sunsets and colors, for example—the book’s more than 100 images depict Mars’ “weird” colors as well as false colors, such as dressing up each variation in texture or soil composition in Andy Warhol–like hues. Bell is the leader of the Pancam color camera team for the mission.