Beauty, Seduction, and Sex: a Stunning Video on Pollination

Beauty and seduction are nature’s tools for survival, says Louie Schwartzberg introducing his stunning short video on pollination at a TED conference last March, “because we will protect what we fall in love with.”

Oh do we ever. And so do the birds and the bees. Yes it comes down to sex, but it is more than that.

Pollination, says Cinematographer Schwartzberg, represents the connection between the animal and plant worlds and “is truly a magic moment, when life regenerates itself over and over again.”

In some parts of the world pollen gets a really bad name and for good reason: It makes people so miserable they want to shoot themselves. Like in places like Atlanta, and Tarboro, and sometimes even New York. Not so much here in California, mercifully, though we did notice quite a bit on the pond yesterday what with everything blooming everywhere about a month early.

But seriously, pollination is nothing less than the perpetuation of life itself, without which nothing would grow. Which would put us in a real pickle.

I hope this makes you feel better about blowing your nose every three minutes, which is about how long it takes to watch Louie Schwartzberg: The Hidden Beauty of Pollination, which will take you somewhere new, even if just for three minutes. It seems important to be reminded we are always in nature, even when we think we’re not.