Frans Lanting

Frans Lanting Biography

One of the most accomplished wildlife photographers of our time, Frans Lanting is that rare artist whose images are able to make us both think and feel simultaneously. Using a naturalist’s knowledge and an artist’s sensitive eye for rhythm, color and design, Lanting has, for some twenty years, created images of wildlife that transcend the boundaries of traditional wildlife photography.

Born in the Netherlands in 1951, Lanting’s love of nature began at a very young age: “I grew up in a small village which eventually was transformed into the center of a big petrochemical, industrial area in Holland. I’ve seen first hand how societies overwhelm organic landscapes.”

Trained as an economist, Lanting came to the United States to study environmental planning. “I thought that I could use the discipline of economics to try and put a face and a value onto natural processes,” he explains. “But I realized I was on my way to becoming a bureaucrat and to being isolated from the natural world.”

When Lanting moved to California in 1978, he was “promptly seduced” by the artistic climate of the region and took up photography as a new medium of expression--and it became his means of drawing world attention not only to wildlife, but to their environments, as well. One of the aspects of Lanting’s work that separates him from so many other wildlife photographers is his approach to his subjects: rather than stalking surreptitiously by blind or vehicle (though he also does both), Lanting spends a great deal of time winning the confidence and trust of his subjects. In fact, he often photographs while sitting in the open, mere feet from his subjects, using wild-angle lenses. Perhaps Lanting’s greatest success, though, rises from his simple, unrelenting passion for all wild creatures. “I become a different person when I connect with animals,” he says.

In his twenty-year career, Frans Lanting has won numerous honors, including being named BBC “Wildlife Photographer of the Year” and his work has been shown in galleries in New York, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, Madrid and Amsterdam. He has also created some of the most profoundly beautiful nature books ever published, including his most recent book Eye to Eye: Intimate Encounters With The Animal World.

Collector's Edition - Eye to Eye:
Intimate Encounters With the Animal World
A one-of-a-kind signed and numbered Collector's Edition is now available and includes: a signed Collector's Edition Ilfochrome print of the cover image; a handsome velour slipcase; gold embossing and gilded page trim. Each copy is signed and numbered by Frans Lanting.
Published in 1997 by Taschen Verlag, Germany
252 pages
Trim size 10 1/2"x13"
140 photographs
Price: $350

The above book plus other Books, Posters, Videos and Fine Prints are avialable at:
TERRA EDITIONS
1985 Smith Grade
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Tel: (408) 429-1331
Fax: (408) 423-8324

For Further Information Please Visit:
http://www.lanting.com