Beautiful Whale

Finished June 2
Beautiful Whale by Bryant Austin, foreword by Sylvia A. Earle

This book contains amazing photographs of whales. Humpback whales in Tonga. Sperm whales in the Caribbean. Dwarf minke whales at the Great Barrier Reef. Following a close encounter with a whale Austin was driven to pursue the goal of taking life-size composite portraits of whales. So very few humans get to have an encounter with a whale that we don't get to see their beauty and intelligence and thus disregard how our actions affect their environment. To take these photographs Austin has to be very close to the whales, remaining as still as possible while they slowly moved past him. As he describes his experiences, you realize the gentleness and curiosity of these large creatures.
Austin sold his vehicles, house, and camera equipment to finance this project when fund-raising didn't provide enough. The exhibitions he was able to mount drew responses better than he had hoped and brought increased attention to these little known animals.