The Masters of Nature Photography - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 177085259X ISBN 13: 9781770852594

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2013

Synopsis

A collection of photographs from winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition comes from two venerable institutions of the United Kingdom: the Natural History Museum and BBC Worldwide. For 49 years, this prestigious exhibition has drawn submissions from around the world. Being shortlisted is something to which nature photographers around the world aspire and every year new talent competes with established names for a chance to become Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

The Masters of Nature Photography features ten breathtaking portfolios from ten of the world's top nature photographers: 120 stunning photographs in all. Selected specifically for this book, the images reflect the photographers' unique talents and perspectives and showcase an incredible variety of subjects and styles, from striking animal portraits and arresting landscapes to underwater photography.

The Wildlife Photographers of the Year featured in this stunning book are:

• Jim Brandenburg
• David Doubilet
• Pal Hermansen
• Frans Lanting
• Thomas E. Mangelsen
• Vincent Munier
• Michael 'Nick' Nichols
• Paul Nicklen
• Anup Shah
• Christian Ziegler.

Running twenty pages each, the 10 portfolios includes a profile of the photographer, describing the style of his photography as well as his influences and aims. Captions describe why the pictures are special to the photographer as well as telling the stories behind them. Also including details of the equipment used, this is a sumptuous gift for nature lovers and professional and amateur photographers.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is an international showcase for the very best photography featuring natural subjects. It has been the leading event of its kind for nature photographers since it was founded in 1965 with three categories and about 500 entries. Since then, there have been more than 48,000 entries from over 98 countries. The photographs are judged by a panel of experts and the winning and commended selections are exhibited at the Natural History Museum, where over the next year, millions of people will view them. The exhibition tours worldwide, attracting more than a million visitors.

About this title

About the Author

Rosamund Kidman Cox is an editor and writer specializing in wildlife and environmental issues, and with a particular interest in photography. She was editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine for 23 years, and has been a judge of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition since 1981.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

The photographers whose work is exhibited in this book have three things in common. They have all chosen wild places and wild species as their lifelong subjects, they have all been honoured in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, and they are all passionate about their art. Some of them are legends, others are younger masters, but all have a deep respect for their subjects and high ethical standards.

The 10 photographers have each chosen 10 of their images that they consider representative of their work. All would say that there are other nature photographers of equal stature, who like them have been honoured in the competition. But together these 10 represent a collection of work that spans 30 years, different nationalities and different ways of seeing the natural world. A number of them have worked in the heyday of magazine photojournalism in the 1970s and 1980s, when there was financial support for talented photographers, through magazines such as National Geographic. Today, photographers have to be self-supporting. Though the tools they work with are far better than in the days of film, tools are just tools. Knowledge and experience, and vision and passion, are still the most crucial elements. All them say that spending intense periods of time in wild places, absorbing and watching, learning about light and animal behaviour and how to catch the moment have taught them more than any formal education. All of them, however, also say that the generosity of older photographers and access through books and magazines to the work of the other artists -- photographers and painters -- has inspired them.

Half of the pictures reproduced here were taken on film, when what could be captured was limited by both film speed and camera technology. The digital age has changed the photography of nature more than any other genre, particularly photography under water, where surfacing to change film after just 36 shots is no longer necessary. The speed of digital capture has resulted in photographs of behaviour never seen before, and digital sensors have allowed photography in the lowest light conditions. Being able to see the results instantly has been a liberation. Yet many of the pictures shot on film remain among the most beautiful and memorable.

Some of the 10 masters are the nature equivalent of street photographers, focusing on the energy of the moment, others aim to encapsulate the emotion of the place or moment, others a painterly rendition of it, and many of them use their work to tell stories or convey messages. Their key works, though, all merit the label of art, not illustration. Yet in the world of art photography, those who choose nature as their focus and inspiration are seldom given the acknowledgement they deserve.

But the true reward for these photographers, whose reverence for nature fuels their passion, is the knowledge that their work can effect change through its beauty and originality, more so than any other genre of photography. They can show what will be lost through destruction of the natural world, can tap into human values and can lead to the preservation of wilderness as well as wild species. For photography, that is real power.

Rosamund Kidman Cox

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 177085259X
• ISBN 13: 9781770852594
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Cox Rosamund