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Photo Book Reviews

Giant Pandas In the Wild (Aperture) by Lu Zhi with an Essay and Photographs by George B. Schaller Reveiwed by Bob Kirsch Article rating: 5.91

Ever seen a bad picture of a Panda?  Doubtful. When it comes to photogenic animals,  nothing beats your basic furry, black and white, droop-eyed, hundred and eighty pound Chinese bear. Sure, koalas and damn cute and everyone gushes at puppies and cubs, but, let's face it; when fund-raising money's on the line, whose face gets on the poster?

Naturally, then, the shelves are loaded with plenty of stunningly beautiful picture books of pandas. Cavorting in the wild, but what distinguishes this one?  Well, for starters, “Giant Pandas in the Wild” is published by Aperture, whose focus is not just a high level of artistic photography, but also to use  the art to illuminate cultural, social and environmental issues.  In addition, it's the integration of all of these elements that elevates this particular book.

While primarily a photography book, Lu Zhi's text is as much about the changes in post cultural revolutionary China and the all-too human researchers who study pandas as it is about the pandas themselves.  And, instead of a story of impending doom, we're given a tale of success in restoring a once dwindling panda population.

Lu Zhi takes great pains to explain why other than six fingers and a face designed by Disney, the panda doesn't have much going for it.  Confined entirely within a small region in China, the panda's diet is limited almost exclusively to bamboo.  Unfortunately, bamboo forests have a multi-year life cycle that includes a periodic mass flowering followed by a mass die-off.  Historically, pandas were able to survive because neighboring forests on different cycles were still viable. However, with bamboo forests being converted to farmland, the past two hundred years have seen panda groups become isolated from each other and from other forests so that when one forest dies, so does the group of pandas living in it.   The challenge, then, is less zoological as it is political and economic.  Save the habitat, save the panda.  And, it's working.  Since the late sixties, habitats have been restored and the panda's decline has been reversed.

But, as Lu Zhi tells us, conditions and policy in China are always subject to change.  She wants to ensure the effort is maintained and well understands the power of photography to help the panda's cause.  As she says: "Despite being trapped by forces beyond its control, its beauty is such that it transforms nearly all who gaze upon it."   This book makes that point. Beautifully.

>>Click here to purchase a copy of  Panda's in the Wild.

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	This article is graet and fun to read I like the pictures best! Posted by: jacinta Jul 18, 2008 @ 4:35 PM EST
	This article is graet and fun to read I like the pictures best! Posted by: jacinta Jul 18, 2008 @ 4:36 PM EST

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