Thomas Peschak

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. I could stop my review with those words because that really does sum the book up but in case you want a little more information, I'll keep going. Thomas Peschak is an amazing photographer and this book showcases some of his best ocean work. Certain photographs are so iconic, you've seen them all over the internet already. Others are so spectacular you'd be forgiven for thinking they were fake (they most emphatically are not). He has a knack for catching marine life in ways that make us look at them differently, to marvel at them and the oceans they live in, around, and above.

This simply gorgeous coffee table book is full of lush double page spreads and impressive, crisp, surprising photographs, those that highlight the gloriousness of the ocean, those that drive home the fragility of it, and those that show the shameful ways we human beings are harming it. It is divided into sections highlighting sea turtles, manta rays, seabirds, sharks, sardines, Galapagos, and conservation, and each of these parts has jaw-dropping photographs. Amongst the photos, Peschak also tells of his childhood, falling in love with photography, leaving the world of academia, and his transformation into a passionate conservationist who wants his photographs to expose the wonder of the ocean and its inhabitants, introducing the underwater world to people so they will want to protect and save it. The photographs in here run from awe-inspiring to cautionary to heartbreaking and back again.

The perfect book for marine enthusiasts, it makes me want to pop a regulator in my mouth and sink down into the unbelievable world of our oceans again.… (altro)