Portrait of WildIndia

About the Book

It was in 1984 that I visited the Kanha forest with a group of friends. It was love at first sight in my case, and what started off as a casual visit soon turned into a lifelong affair. As the years passed by, I explored many other jungles too. Every new place came with a new set of friends. Along with them, my acquaintance with the animals and their habitat began growing. During the initial phase, I did my photography with a video camera, but around 1996, I came across the book Sunlight and Shadows by M. Y. Ghorpade. Literally overnight I switched over to a still camera. Although I met him much later in my life, I made him my guru there and then. His photograph “Tusker in the Rain,” taken when photography was a difficult pursuit, still captivates me. Even in this age, I find it difficult enough doing wildlife photography using digital equipment. I can only imagine the hard work that he must have put in with his medium-format camera using black-and-white film.

About the Author

Ever since first visit with friends to Kanha National Park in 1984, avid wildlife lover and photographer Anant Vasant Zanjale has devoted himself single mindedly to visiting and recording on film the wildlife of almost every sanctuary and national park across the length and breadth of the country. In the process his work has received international recognition and acclaim. In 1998, he reached, for the first time, the finals of the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest and till date he has done so 9 times, having got to the semiKfinals stage as many as 51 times. In the German Wildlife Photography Awards he received the Gold Star 36 times. In this volume we present a selection of Anant Zanjale’s photographs depicting not just a few species, but a broad spectrum of India’s rich biodiversity and immense faunal wealth. This should be of interest and value to both casual visitors to our national parks and sanctuaries as well as to serious students of Indian Wildlife. His comments alongside each photograph provide interesting insights into the romance and charm of our wild places and the wonderful creatures that inhabit them.