When I saw this photo (above) of a monkey creature holding a cell phone in a hot pool of water on the cover of this large-format book, I just had to pick it up to look at what was inside the pages. And there, I found a great collection of fantastic award-winning photographs of wildlife from around the world, from tiny spiders in South Africa to giraffes and turtles.
These photos had been recent entries in England’s Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, and the book’s author/compiler happens to be the editor of BBC Wildlife Magazine for the past 20 years or so, and the long-time judge of Wildlife Photographer of the Year since 1981.
Each two-page spread has an example of astonishing wildlife photography combined with well written and informative text, both explaining what the action in the image represents for the species in question but also delving a little deeper into the background about the animals and insects represented.
It was a feast for the eyes – really. I enjoyed looking at each of the coffee-table sized pages, and even learned a lot about creatures that I’d never heard of: honey pot ants, anyone? 😉
Interestingly, last year a different set of award-winning images were making the rounds of various museums across the U.S., so you may have seen a few of these before if you made it to that exhibition. If not, no worry. The photos here are just as good.
One thing was curious though – there was no image credit for photographer who took that photo of a monkey playing with a phone in the hot tub on front of cover. I searched every page and combed through the index for any mention, but nada. Poor photographer person. Front cover photo and no credit. 😦
Don’t let that deter you though. This was a really fun book to read and look at, and I’ll bet you’ll learn a thing or two about some creatures you don’t know right now. Plus – the photography was delightful!
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