It's hard for me to resist National Geographic's gorgeous coffee table books, so I am excited to be today's stop on the TLC Book Tour for Photo Ark Wonders: Celebrating Diversity in the Animal Kingdom, featuring the gorgeous photography of Joel Sartore.
Publisher: National Geographic (October 19, 2021)
Hardcover: 400 pages
Plublisher's Blurb:
A
glorious new volume of Sartore’s signature animal portraits, this time
highlighting the fascinating shapes, patterns, and expressions of
animals both familiar and little known.
Joel
Sartore, on a mission to photograph all the animal species in human
care, now delights us with more photographs, this time selected to
represent the amazing diversity of the world’s animals.
The book’s four chapters — Pattern, Shape, Extra, and Personality — invite us to revel in these photographs, many cleverly paired into amusing and often surprising comparisons, like the catfish and the mouse with the same stripes down their backs, the tarantula and the poison dart frog both cobalt blue, or the tiny lizard and the weighty ox both sporting pointed horns.
- Each photograph gets its own page or two-page spread.
- Scientifically accurate captions highlight distinctive features.
- Throughout, Sartore recalls telling moments from his photographic adventures.
With
all new image selections, this book expands the best-selling Photo Ark
series, sure to be a hit with those who already treasure National Geographic Photo Ark, Birds of the Photo Ark, and Photo Ark Vanishing.
Animal lovers young and old will get lost in the pages of this book, delighted by the spectacular diversity among these creatures and the wit of the photographer chronicling them.
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Author/Photographer Notes: Joel Sartore is an award-winning photographer, speaker, author, conservationist, and the 2018 National Geographic Explorer of the Year. He is a regular contributor to National Geographic Magazine, and an Eagle Scout. His hallmarks are a sense of humor and a Midwestern work ethic.
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My Review:
So I mentioned I am sucker for coffee table books and nature or animal photography is my favorite. Joel Satore takes some wonderful shots, portraits that perfectly capturing the personality of every animal. I love that a lot of his subjects are rare and endangered which makes paging through the 400 pages a pleasure. The personality of each animal pulled me in, sometimes in awe and sometimes with humor as some seem to be posing for the camera.
The book is divided into four sections: Pattern, Shape, Extra, and Personality, and covers the gamut from insects to sea life, to birds, to mammals of all shapes and sizes. I find myself drawn to the creatures with almost human expressions and positions.
Photo Ark Wonders would make a great gift for a nature-lover of any age. I keep picking it up and paging through it--either simply looking at the photos and captions to learn the names, or taking the time to delve into Joel Sartore's fascinating stories of his experiences photographing these beautiful and diverse animals. It's a delight of a book, and a great way to ease from the day into bedtime.
Here are a just a few of my favorites:
Cownose Ray
Gelada
Note: A review copy of Photo Ark of Wonders was provided to me by the author and the publisher via TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always, my thoughts and opinions are my own.
You are lucky to be gifted this book, which appears to have a list price of $40, a bit less on amazon.com. When I read reviews of these gift books, I always wonder if the reviewer would find them worth the price if they had to buy them. Though I believe most such books are purchased by gift givers in search of a perfect gift for someone else.
ReplyDeleteThe photos you showed are indeed nice. It would make a nice gift for the right person.
best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com