Big Cat Studio

by Bhagavan Antle, Barry Bland (Photographer)

In 1982, conservationist Dr Bhagavan Antle was introduced to a Siberian tiger cub by a zoo director visitng his clinic. Animal-lover Antle was so enthralled by the the tiger that he founded The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.) - a wildlife education organization, dedicated to promoting global conservation in an interactive and entertaining way. He also set up the Rare Species Fund (R.S.F.) to raise funds in support of international wildlife conservation programs. T.I.G.E.R.S. and the R.S.F. are based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and operate four public education exhibits and yearly productions of the highly acclaimed The Tale of the Tiger show. They have also contributed to Matabeleland Leopard and Cheetah project in Zimbabwe, the Savannah Cheetah Foundation in South Africa and Samutprakam Wildlife Park in Thailand. Today, Antle is widely recognized as one of the foremost animal trainers in the world, having worked with thousands of animals and even in Hollywood on such films as Ace When Nature Calls and Forrest Gump. He continues to promote the education and conservation of endangered species and remains as enthralled as ever by the creatures he protects. In this stunning collection of studio photographs, Antle invites us to get up close and personal with seven species of big leopard, cheetah, lion, lynx, ocelot, panther and tiger. Beautifully photographed by Barry Bland, the grace and purity of the feline form is accentuated against the blank setting of a studio background, giving these images a candid and intimate feel. An extraordinary sense of personality shines through alongside magnificent colors, markings and textures, shown unhindered and up close. Including portraits of both cubs and adults and with a profile of each photographed cat, this beautiful book will be treasured by both artists and cat-lovers alike.

Genres: Art

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains stunning photography, not much of the written word as its about studio photography with big cats. This means of course that you don't see the cats in there natural enviroments but it does help us to see the whole of the big cat. Now not every big cat is in this book, cats that are photographed include: Leopard, Cheetah, Lion, Lynx, Ocelot, Panther, Tiger.

The book is produced by T.I.G.E.R.S. which is said in the introduction and the names of the cat models appear in the back of the book with some profiles of the big cats. Text as i said above is limited, to a page that introduces each big cat and to small one lined captions below each image. Personally i would recommend this book to any cat fan i personally love the Ocelot photos!

The only problem i have with the book (and a minor one at that) is the binding, its not a big book so some of the images are double paged which means that the binding can get in the way of showing the photograph at its best. But that is not a deal breaker for me.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Doc Antle back in the 80's when he was first starting out - he's an incredible voice for conservation in the 21st century and this is another wonderful book of photos of his preservation's big cats. They serve as ambassadors, making the creature and it's plight in nature real to people in a way reading about them or watching video can not do. As you hold a living breathing baby tiger, you connect. Sometimes I hear people talk about how wrong it is to make ambassadors out of the big cats - how they should all live in the wild. Where exactly is this wild? At the start of the 20th century there were 100,000 wild tigers, and now there are 4,000, with more poached and threatened every day. To survive we must have preserves,and to save the tiger is to save ourselves.

All that being said - this is a nice affordable book of beautiful big cat photos. Enjoy!