Serengeti: Natural Order on the African Plain

by Mitsuaki Iwago

Book Overview

A grand visual panorama of life, death, and renewal on the great Serengeti plain of Africa. 280 color photographs.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0877014418
• ISBN13: 9780877014416
• Release Date: June 1987
• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Length: 104 Pages
• Weight: 2.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 10.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Circle of Life in East Africa Documented in Stunning Photographs

Pay heed to the subtitle of this book - "Natural Order on the African Plain" - as it does not shy away from images that may not show up in a children's book. I'm so glad this tome is still in publication, as it is a beautifully photographed document of life and death on the Serengeti Plain that stretches across Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. Photographer Mitsuaki Iwago has captured the vibrancy of the mythic wildlife of this expansive area, in particular, the scope of the Great Migration, when over a million wildebeest and zebra travel hundreds of miles in search of water. Iwago has a wondrous eye for detail, whether it's an uninterrupted pattern of zebras with their heads bowed to drink up from a watering hole or a gaggle of hungry hawks gnawing on the dead carcass of a lion. My personal favorites are any pictures showing adult animals and their children and the ones showing the Masai villagers living so naturally amid the wildlife. Even the eye-wincing scenes of death make for vivid reminders of how essential the cycle of life is on the plain. I have been lucky enough to have been on safari on the Masai Mara, which is the northern part of the plain, and the images in Iwago's book perfectly evoke my experiences on the range rover as we looked at life happen. This is a great coffee-table book at the right size not to be overwhelming.

Excellent choice if you're going or have gone...

This book has the pictures we wish we could have taken, excellent information, covers the serengeti from rain season to dry. Highly recommend for someone going to or who has been to the serengeti.

Wildlife and nature photography at its best!

These images bring the Serengeti to you. This being largely a pictoral tour of the Serengeti, words do it little justice. If you are an intelligent animal lover with a pulse, you will pay twice the cover price for this book.

A gorgeous representation of the beauty one really sees

Having just returned from Kenya and Tanzania and as an aspiring photographer myself, I was anxious to get my own film developed. I did and had some good shots, but was dissappointed because only a few of my shots conveyed what I felt when I was actually in Africa. Only a little bit of what I captured on film was something I could use to show people when they asked me how my trip was. Out of my own photographs, only 3 or 4 really conveyed the emotions and awe I felt in viewing the African wildlife and landscape. This book is a completely different story. Every single photograph conveys all of the beauty and awe-inspiring nature that is Africa. I can look at these photos and say "this is exactly what Africa is like." These photos are so beautiful that just by looking at them I begin to feel some of what I felt standing on the plains myself at dawn watching a family of lions no more than 100 yards away. Iwago's use of composition, light, and technique clearly convey life on the Serengetti. Everything from the absolute power of the lion to the complete goofiness of the Wildebeast is conveyed wonderfully in this book.If you have any of the same interests I do in wildlife and Africa go on safari. If you can't do that, at least do yourself the favor of picking up this book.

Outstanding portfolio of the greatest wildlife photographer!

This book is a wonderful tribute to nature's beauty. The photographs are outstanding and only someone who loves nature could have taken them. A great panorama of the great Serengeti through its two seasons. Thank you Mr. Iwago.