In this extraordinary collection of full-color images, wildlife photographer Bloom (In Praise of Primates
) surveys a dazzling diversity of fauna and landscapes from all six continents, with extended photo essays on such endearing species as dolphins, polar bears, elephants and parrots. Bloom combines the obsessive patience of the nature photographer (he lurked in a boat for 17 days to capture a single picture of a great white shark leaping from the water in pursuit of a seal) with a painterly feel for color, texture and composition. Images include a swirling, impressionistic photo of a sprinting cheetah; a starkly lit, hyper-real shot of two bald eagles locked in midair combat; a misty, chiaroscuro view of a giraffe browsing at dusk; a grim picture of lions playfully savaging a helpless young hippo; a character study of Japanese macaques, their florid faces and shrewd, searching gazes giving them a startlingly human visage; and a haunting existentialist tableau of a solitary penguin seated on an ice floe, looking out at the bleak Antarctic seascape. Bloom appends a few words decrying the environmental despoliation that is destroying nature faster than he can photograph it, but these ravishing pictures are the best conservationist argument he could possibly muster. (Nov. 15)
