Life at an African Pool: Waiting for Rain

There's a lot to like here. One feels sheer admiration, for instance, for a photographer--Struthers himself--who sat at an African pool for about two months during the height of the dry season and took pictures of the many animals who came to drink. He had to survive not only the heat and the dryness but also swarming, stinging bees, angry elephants, and other hooved beasties who saw him as someone trying to scare them away from the only water hole for miles. Struthers' consequent capturing of the ebb and flow of the proverbial battle for existence is excellent and also highly admirable. Yet the color photographs seem awfully washed out--indeed, rather colorless. Perhaps this is due to the light and the hues of animals and countryside in a very dry section of Africa, or perhaps it's due to poor printing. Whatever the reason, the photographs (especially some that appear out-of-focus) that should be one of the book's strongest selling points turn out to be one of the weakest. Still, the book's definitely worth a look. Jon Kartman