Nature photographer Frans Lanting
to premiere new book

By Jennifer McNulty

World-renowned wildlife photographer Frans Lanting will give two slide lecture previews of his new book Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape on Saturday, May 3, at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in Classroom Unit 2. The talks mark the world premiere of Lanting's photographs of the bonobo, an endangered ape that lives in the remote rain forests of Zaire.

Proceeds from the lectures will benefit the Environmental Studies Department and the Santa Cruz City Museum of Natural History. Tickets are $9 general admission, $7 for museum members and seniors, and $6 for students. Tickets are available at the door or in advance at the UCSC Ticket Office, (408) 459-2159, or at the museum, (408) 429-3773.

Lanting, who was named 1996 Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year, is a longtime resident of the county's north coast. A native of the Netherlands, he came to the United States in 1978 to study environmental planning at UCSC. His book on the bonobo was coauthored by Frans de Waal and is being published by UC Press. It is scheduled for release in late May, but copies will be available at the premiere.

One of the great nature photographers of our time, Lanting photographed bonobos in Zaire and at primate research centers in the United States, where researchers are studying their ability to acquire language skills. A close relative of the chimpanzee, the lesser-known bonobo forms a matriarchal, egalitarian society in which individuals display a high level of sensitivity to others.

In a review of Lanting's new book, National Geographic Society director of photography Thomas Kennedy said: "As a chronicler of natural history today, Frans Lanting is a singular extraordinary talent. He has the mind of a scientist, the heart of a hunter, and the eyes of a poet. He is persistent, adaptable, and hardy as the wild creatures he observes."

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