Frog: A Photographic Portrait (Hardcover)

by Thomas Marent (Author), Tom Jackson (Author)
Key Phrases: harlequin poison dart frog, strawberry poison dart frog, glass frog, Costa Rica, South America, French Guiana (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Frog is a celebration of the fascinating range of the planet's frogs and toads. Published to coincide with Amphibian Ark's "Year of the Frog" and designed to build awareness of environmental change causing many species of amphibians to disappear at an alarming rate. The aim of the year's campaign is to generate awareness to the greatest species conservation challenge in history. AUTHOR BIO: Thomas Marent, author of Rainforest (2006) and Butterfly (2008), started photographing natural history subjects, particularly birds and butterflies, in the mountains of his native Switzerland. He has dedicated nearly half his life to recording butterflies across five continents.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: DK ADULT (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0756641322
• ISBN-13: 978-0756641320
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 10 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #152,279 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Amphibians
  #41 in	Books > Outdoors & Nature > Fauna > Reptiles & Amphibians

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AWESOME, January 6, 2009

By	Amy E. Lammon "Amy L" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

What a beautiful book. The photography is stunning. Thomas Marent is quickly becoming one of my favorite photographers. If you have not seen his previous book entitled "Rainforest", I highly recommend that one, too. I believe he also has a book out on butterflies. Don't just flip through the pages mesmerized by the photographs - you will miss out on some great stories/comments.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, November 23, 2008

By	Blind Willie (Helotes, TX) - See all my reviews

If you like frogs, you will love this beautiful book and its wonderful photographs. Even if you don't like frogs, you will still love this beautiful book and its wonderful photographs. Not only is it a lush and wonderful study in and of itself, it provides an excellent lesson to photographers and artists of just how much can be done with a (possibly) limited subject. Buy one for yourself and extras to give to family and friends.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting intimate with frogs, August 30, 2008

By	Pater Ecstaticus (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This is my first acquaintance with the photography of Thomas Marent, so I did not know what to expect really. But more often than not a picture on the front cover of the book can tell you something about the quality of photography inside. And considering the low price, I did not really hesitate to buy.
From the very beginning, upon opening the book, I was delighted. The book begins in a very nice way: upon opening the cover and leafing through the frontispiece and title page one does not immediately get to the copyright info and list of contents, but one is treated first with ten pages of gorgeous photographs of frogs with just small captions of their names and places, so that one is immediately pulled into the world of frogs and amphibians before any 'explanation' begins. After the list of contents (listing the foreword and chapters on 'identity', 'body form', 'survival', 'reproduction', 'amphibian families' and index) there is a foreword by the photographer, telling a bit about his motives for making this book (mainly his passion for nature and wildlife in general and frogs especially).
I am delighted by the editing, which is gorgeous: the crisp colour photographs and white typeface are set on black background, with many photos covering the whole page or the total width of two pages. Also, on many pages a few photographs are placed on the same page to compare features, shapes or sizes among different species (or sometimes within the same species, like the different skin hues for day and night on the tree frog Hyla rubracyla). In other occasions, one photo overlaps the whole page and just a bit of the other, leaving space for one or two other photos and some text now and then. Some photos also zoom in on details of the bodies, like heads, eyes, legs, toes or fingers. But most of the photos show the frogs in portrait, from special angles (like the exquisite glass frog being photographed from underneath to show its transparency), perching in typical stances or in action: walking, jumping, 'flying', calling, feeding or mating.
Thomas Marent's art is wonderful. One can see the effort that has gone into taking the best possible shot (sometimes a deliberately posed shot), also taking into acount background. Sometimes a wonderful effect is created with varying depth/sharpness, but always with great style and with purpose behind it. And of course the eyes are always in sharp focus, especially in extreme close-ups. Often, at the same time, the photographer has 'come down' to eye level with the frog, creating a wonderfully 'intimate' view, especially when the frog seems to look at you with sort of a 'puzzled' or 'amazed' look on its face (however impossible that may be, but that is part of the great mastery of the photographer). In my view, this is a great book that is expecially worthwile because of the photographs (how many months of hard work must have gone into creating all of those!!!). And the text, while basic, is very informative. Also, the captions sometimes add a little extra delightful information about the species photographed. A lovely aspect of the text are a few 'anecdotes' (eight if I count correctly) from the adventures of the photographer, making the story behind the photos coming alive, which is wonderful.
All in all this book is a true gem and a delight for all who love high quality nature photography in general and of frogs/amphibians/animals especially. Each and every photo in it is a little work of art and some are simply stunning. Paging through the book, looking at the pictures and reading the bits of wonderfully informative text, really draws one into the world from a frog's perspective (pun intended). Also, this book, just by showing the sheer beauty of frogs, should help to heighten awareness of the many endangered species of amphibians (called "the canaries in the coal mine" because of their high sensitivity to environmental pollution). So when you have the idea that the frogs are looking you in the eye personally when looking at the pictures and when you feel touched, you have made an important step in your awareness I believe: you feel the call of good conscience and respect for nature and wildlife: think what you could do (or do without) to lower your impact on the environment.
Highly recommended.