The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Richard Evans Schultes [Hardcover]

Wade Davis (Author), Richard Schultes (Photographer), Andrew Weil (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2004

Richard Evans Schultes (1915-2001) was probably the greatest explorer of the Amazon, and regarded among anthropologists and seekers alike as the "father of ethnobotany." Taking what was meant to be a short leave from Harvard in 1941, he surveyed the Amazon basin almost continuously for twelve years, during which time he lived among two dozen different Indian tribes, mapped rivers, secretly sought sources of rubber for the US government during WWII, and collected and classified 30,000 botanical specimens, including 2,000 new medicinal plants. Schultes chronicled his stay there in hundreds of remarkable photographs of the tribes and the land, evocative of the great documentary photographers such as Edward Sheriff Curtis. Published to coincide with a traveling exhibition to debut at the Govinda Gallery in Washington, D.C., The Lost Amazon is the first major publication to examine the work of Dr. Schultes, as seen through his photographs and field notes. With text by Schultes's protege and fellow explorer, Wade Davis, this impressive document takes armchair travelers where they've never gone before.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A cross between Indiana Jones and Timothy Leary, Harvard botanist Schultes explored the farthest reaches of Amazonia in the middle decades of the 20th century and discovered hundreds of new plant species, including a number of hallucinogenic plants that helped spark the psychedelic revolution of the 1960s. He took peyote with Kiowa medicine men for his undergrad thesis, and after that he was never too sick, crippled or pressed for time to detour miles through the rainforest to ingest an unfamiliar hallucinogen in a shamanic ritual. He even fixed up William Burroughs with some ayahuasca "vision vine," thanks to which the beat demigod "achieved pure bisexuality, becoming a man or a woman at will, awash with wild convulsions of lust." Schultes was also a talented amateur photographer, and this engaging biographical essay, adapted by ethnobotanist Davis (The Serpent and the Rainbow) from his full-length biography, is paired with gorgeous reproductions of Schultes’s black-and-white photographs from his travels among the Amazonian Indians. The photos include well-observed anthropological documents of Indian rituals and crafts, candid shots of everyday life and romantic photos of towering mesas, thundering falls and mist-shrouded rivers. The result is an absorbing biographical and visual record of a quickly vanishing culture and landscape and a larger-than-life explorer of exterior and interior terrains.
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Schultes (1915-2001), of Harvard University, was a plant explorer and expert in sacred hallucinogenic plants. He was also, according to one of his proteges, ethnobotanist Davis, "a lover of all things Indian and Amazonian." Davis presented an in-depth portrait of his mentor in One River (1996) and now reveals another facet of this remarkable pioneer, Schultes' gifts as a field photographer. Schultes took hundreds of photographs of the northwest Amazon between 1941 and 1953, using a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera, which, as Davis so astutely observes, required the photographer to hold the camera at waist height and gaze down into it, thus bowing to one's subject. This posture of respect is in keeping with Schultes' sense of reverence and wonder, a quality palpable in his striking black-and-white photographs of Amazonians and their magnificent and mysterious world. An exhibition based on the book is touring the country, and with a foreword by another of Schultes' students, Andrew Weil, and Davis' illuminating commentary, The Lost Amazon stands as a keystone volume in the history of the Amazon. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 204 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811845710
• ISBN-13: 978-0811845717
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 11 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY OF RICHARD EVANS SCHULTES, August 5, 2006

By 

Denis Benchimol Minev "Amazonia" (Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Richard Evans Schultes (Hardcover)

Schultes was perhaps the greatest ethnobotanists of all time and definitely the father of the subject. In this book, his pupil (and today famed explorer) Wade Davis puts together a sampling of his photographs throughout his life in the Amazon, providing a visual context to the story about the great scientist and explorer.

Schultes lived among indians for many years in the northwestern Amazon, in search for knowledge about its plants and their secrets. He uncovered many hallucinogenic plants in the process, which earned him a cult status in the 1970s. During his time with the indians, he was able to build strong relationships with the natives, which earned a position of respect and gave him the ability to explore their land and knowledge deeply.

Schultes is one of the last great explorers who disconnected himself from the outside world for years in order to collect new specimens and search for more knowledge. Such figures are rare, if at existent in the modern world. He wrote many books about his travels, which would also make interesting reading, especially as they relat ehte knowledge he gathered. This is more of a coffee table type of book, with many pictures and less story. Having read one of his books, I appreciated seeing the pictures of his time in the Amazon.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best photos ever of the Amazon, January 16, 2008

By 

Stewart Brand (Sausalito, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Amazon: The Photographic Journey of Richard Evans Schultes (Hardcover)

This is the way to see the Amazon, through the Rolleiflex camera of one of the greatest explorer-scientists.

This is the way to hear of the Amazon, through the Irish tale-telling of Wade Davis, himself an epic explorer-scientist.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting history, December 28, 2009

By 

David Howard (Sao Paulo, BR) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lost Amazon (Paperback)

Very well documented history of the professional life of Richard Evans Schultes years in the Amazon. Gives you the insight on how to view and treat native people. Written with respect for Schultes and his contribution to the history of our planet. Exquisite photography.