Rainforest, by Thomas Marent, is a stunning book, full of artistic photos, which captures the beauty, and majesty of the rainforest. It is a book that can be enjoyed by young and old alike and has the power persuade anyone of the importance of preserving this habitat. The photos are large and vibrant and place the viewer in close proximity to fascinating and beautiful creatures. The scale of the photos and the extraordinary detail revealed show forest life in a new context and has the ability to change the reader’s perception of overlooked creatures such as insects, amphibians and crustaceans. Plants are also seen in a new light. Hardly passive, these rainforest plants are bold and colorful and not to be ignored. Marent is able to photograph the species of the rainforest in such a way that minimal text is required to convey the message of the book…the rainforest is extraordinary, it is beautiful and it is worth preserving.
Marent ‘s photographs show the uniqueness of the rainforest. He captures images, which show the animals interacting in their environment. A gecko camouflages seamlessly with a branch, a poison-dart frog carries its tadpoles on its back and deposits them in temporary pools, a glasswing butterfly drinks poisonous nectar therefore protecting itself by becoming inedible. Plants burst with color, orangutan mothers nurture their babies and primates enjoy the tranquility of the forest. The mystery of the forest is revealed and the reader is made aware of the intricacies of the rainforest habitat and though different, is just as valuable as our own.
Rainforest is a perfect book to keep on display. It is large and beautiful. It has photographs that can be enjoyed again and again. It appeals to all ages and can be appreciated by almost anyone. The images and brief descriptions tell so much about an important habitat, which is so little understood, and which needs to be protected. The complexity of the rainforest is as vast as the territory it encompasses and Rainforest reveals just enough to make us understand the importance of protecting this amazing place. ( )

Rainforest” is a testament to the tenacity and passion that Thomas Marent has for his photographic art and nature. The book is an explosion of colour and characters that inhabit rainforests around the world in Australasia, Asia, Africa and South America.

The photography is stunning and enhanced by the anecdotes written throughout the pages about the lengths Thomas went to capture the images. Hours and days of patience, keeping awake through nights, immersing himself in water and mud, covered in leeches – there seem to be few obstacles that keep this man from capturing an image.

This book covers all facets of life in a rainforest by dividing the images into five sections on panorama, diversity, survival, cycles and society. We are taken on a top down view from the canopies and rivers, to animals, insects, plants and parasites. It shows the interconnectedness of all the elements and that a rainforest is truly a delicately balanced system.

As beautiful as this is as a coffee table book it is more importantly a document and record of a fragile environment that needs urgent protection. I hope many people can be as touched and moved by these images as I have been and take steps to preserve the rainforests as places of intrinsic value in themselves. Thomas Marent is a wonderful ambassador and I hope to find more of his books. ( )

In one word: gorgeous. Rainforest is one of those huge coffee table books that you need a crane to lift, but it’s worth it for the closeups of tropical beasties alone. Even before the title page, there are frogs, insects, and pit vipers. The panoramas aren’t just generic waterfalls and jungle vines–Marent has managed to capture the ethereal quality of sunlight breaking through the canopy. And among the fungi, plants, flowers, insects, reptiles, and mammals, I particularly remember cute pictures of a camouflaged orchid mantis, as glaring pink as its home, and fluffy white Honduran bats snuggled against a tent of leaves like puff balls. Of course, taking pictures in a tropical rainforest isn’t all roses–Marent particularly documents his patience and exquisite obsession as he endured getting lost, getting heat stroke, or teetering on the brink of starvation. A certain amount of insanity and bravado surely went into making the photo of a black caiman–so close that you can see the mosquitoes ringing its eye–or of the hornbill which required squatting on a scaffolding of poles near the canopy for ten days straight.

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