About this item
In this astonishing book, legendary wildlife photographer Art Wolfe turns to one of natures most fundamental survival techniques the vanishing act. His portraits show animals and insects disappearing into their surroundings, using deceptions, disguises, lures, and decoys to confuse the eyes of both predator and prey. In a world where nothing is as it appears to be, a lion blends into the tall grass in the late-afternoon sun, or a harp seal disappears against his snowy backdrop. Pastel orchids can suddenly morph into predatory praying mantises, while lizard heads become tails. What at first appears to be a torn and decomposing leaf on a forest floor in Peru suddenly sprouts legs and starts walking it is a leaf-mimic katydid. Spotting each cryptic animal amid Wolfes clever compositions is both a fun and an informative challenge.
About the Author
"Art Wolfe's photographs are a superb evocation of some of the most breathtaking spectacles in the world." -- Sir David Attenborough
The son of commercial artists, Art Wolfe was born on September 13, 1951 in Seattle, Washington, and still calls the city home. He graduated from the University of Washington with Bachelor's degrees in fine arts and art education in 1975. His photography career has spanned five decades, a remarkable testament to the durability and demand for his images, his expertise, and his passionate advocacy for the environment and indigenous culture. During that time he has worked on every continent, in hundreds of locations, and on a dazzling array of projects.
"Art Wolfe's work tells a story that is overwhelming, breathtaking, and vast."
- Robert Redford
Wolfe's photographic mission is multi-faceted. By employing artistic and journalistic styles, he documents his subjects and educates the viewer. His unique approach to photography is based on his training in the arts and his love of the environment. His goal has always been to win support for conservation issues by "focusing on what's beautiful on the Earth." Hailed by William Conway, former president of the Wildlife Conservation Society, as "the most prolific and sensitive recorder of a rapidly vanishing natural world," Wolfe has taken an estimated two million images in his lifetime and travels nearly nine months out of the year photographing for new projects, leading photographic tours and seminars, and giving inspirational presentations to corporate, educational, conservation and spiritual groups.
"There's a stunning clarity and vibrancy in Art Wolfe's wildlife portraits, which are careful, often haunting, compositions." - The New York Times Book Review
In 1978 he published his first book Indian Baskets of the Northwest Coast with the late Dr. Allan Lobb, a close friend and mentor, who also gave Wolfe a start by putting the young photographer's work into patients' rooms at Swedish Medical Center. Wolfe was soon photographing for the world's top magazines such as National Geographic, Smithsonian, Audubon, GEO, and Terre Sauvage. Magazines all over the world publish his photographs and stories, and his work is licensed for retail products and advertising.
Numerous US and international venues have featured monographs of his work as well his traveling exhibits, Travels to the Edge and Beyond the Lens. He has had four major shows at Seattle's Frye Art Museum, including One World, One Vision. Today his work is available at the Art Wolfe Gallery in Seattle, Rotella Gallery™ in Las Vegas and New York City, as well as online at www.artwolfe.com.
"Art has the broadest range of excellence of any nature photographer I know."
- Galen Rowell
Since 1989 he has
