Paul Nicklen — Reverence – PhotoBook Journal

Review by Lee Halvorsen •

Breathtaking! Stunning! Immersive! And that’s just the cover. This art object, the book itself, the printed pages, the images, the text…their fusion; this book is one for the generations. The volume is large, 12.5” x 15” but the size isn’t awkward or intimidating…rather, it’s striking and compelling, a wonder in scale and content, you want to open it.

Nicklen pens the foreword as Mother Earth gently writing to us humans as we trek through the wonders of the planet. Mother Earth acknowledges human mistakes and frailty, but she is comforted by awakening signs of awareness, about relationships of humans to nature, the mistakes, the victories, and the hope for this planet we call home.

In a poignant introduction, Nicklen tells us about growing up in challenging, invigorating, and lifegiving environments. Strongly influenced by his mother, his relationship to nature and his connections to the planet and its inhabitants, he became a National Geographic photographer and co-founder of SeaLegacy, a conservation and production organization. But, back to the book…

This Book. Amazingly emotional, intimate images that hint at the rapport between the photographer and the photographed. Nicklen organized his work into eight chapters with themes/names like “Ancient Wisdom,” “Living Among Giants,” “Heaven On Earth” and more hinting at his world view of the creatures and world around us. Turning each page, I feel as if I’d entered the conversation between Nicklen and the star of the image. The touching sideways glance of the silverback mountain gorilla, the quizzical but challenging stare of the male spirit bear, and the “who the hell are you” look of the female puma are just examples… photographer and photographed are connecting and we, the readers, enter into that exchange through Nicklen’s photographic skills, determination (and persistence) and the book creator’s art.

The panoramas of landscape and seascape frame the motion and nobility of wildlife in its habitat. Not just whales in the water but the feel, the texture of a huge creature moving with grace through the water. And gorgeous octopuses, shrimp, eels and more turning the ocean’s darkness into stirring oceanic presentations seldom seen from this intimate perspective.

Each page of the book is a gift of the creature or land/sea scape on the page, found and given by Nicklen. Polar bears, penguins, whales, and more, just being themselves with the world they live in and sharing that moment with Nicklen who gifts it to us in this book. A tremendous artistic endeavor, one that probably took years to create, and agony filled hours to edit. Towards the end of the book, he provides a description of each image in the book, no captions are on the full-page images. He also lists those who helped him create the book in his crowdfunding effort.

Nicklen’s book is magnificent, an epic really, but I think it’s just a whisper of what he really believes and sees and feels about this planet and the planet’s creatures. His closing words:

Above all, I feel a gratitude for a life spent

In the company of wildlife, for the privilege of witnessing their lives,

And for the honor of sharing even a fragment

Of that beauty with you.

When you buy this book, (and you really should), you will come back to it often, leave it out for visitors to experience, and treasure the images as icons of the world most of us don’t get to experience.

Lee Halvorsen is assistant editor, writer and visual artist living in Virginia.

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Reverence by Paul Nicklen

Artist: Photographer and author, Paul Nicklen

Creative Direction Juliane Cordes with Louis Baroni

Language: English, French available later

Website for purchasing book.

Printed in France, bound in Italy

Hardcover, Binding: Square back sewn; printed 5+5 (ultimate colorspace inks + black) + selective glossy aqueous coating on symbol tatami white 170g; Ends: 140g Sirio color 170 g; Cover: 4 colors Recto + Lamination + Debossed silver foil; 360 pages, 12.5 x 15 inches, ISBN 978-2-490952-70-0

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Articles and photographs published in the PhotoBook Journal may not be reproduced without the permission of the PhotoBook Journal staff and the photographer(s). All images, texts, and designs are under copyright by the authors and publishers.