An Exhibit of World Wonders

MANILA, Philippines - Award-winning American photographer Tom Till takes viewers on an exciting visual tour of United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites in an exhibit at the SM Mall of Asia atrium until April 19.

A joint project of the US Embassy and the SM Mall of Asia, this cultural and historical exhibit takes viwers to the pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, the sand dunes in Turkey, the Ta-Prohm temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Masada ruins in Israel, the Giants Causeway in the United Kingdom, the Basilica San Marco in Venice, Italy, the Cliff Palace in Colorado, the Grand Prismatic spring in Wyoming, the Nazca Lines in Peru, the Taj Mahal in India, the Wat Chiawatthanaran in Thailand, the Nubian sandstone in Jordan, Moai statues in Chile and Yosemite Falls in California.

It also features American landmarks like the White House in Washington DC, the Chimney Rock ruins in Colorado, and the Statue of Liberty in New York; as well as the Philippines’ very own rice terraces in Ifugao and white sand beaches in El Nido in Palawan.

Tom Till, one of America’s most widely published landscape photographers, started traveling about 20 years ago with the idea of photographing “some of the most beautiful national parks in the world, and some of the most amazing man-made structures – from ancient to newer wonders.”

Since 1977, he has traveled to 60 countries and over 30,000 of his images have appeared in print. Till’s images depict landscapes, nature, history, and travel both in the United States and worldwide.

This photographic journey has regularly included sites protected under the UNESCO World Heritage program, whose objective of preserving cultural and natural heritage around the world is greatly admired by Till. The World Heritage list includes 878 properties – 679 cultural, 174 natural, and 25 mixed in 145 states. As of November 2007, 185 states have ratified the World Heritage Convention.