A last gasp for jungles? "I may be part of the last generation of photographers to be able to show wildlife in all its glory. The next generation may have better technology, but what wildlife will be left? Wherever I go, I see whole ecosystems unraveling."

FEATURING NEARLY 50 digital images taken by photographer Frans Lanting over the course of 20 years, "Jungles" reveals the vibrant and dynamic wildlife that inhavits what he describes as the Earth's "forgotten Edens." Spanning Asia, Africa, and the Americas, these bold, large-scale photos capture the fragility and beauty of the rainforests and their inhabitants, including colorful birds, extraordinary insects, and luscious vegetation. Lanting carefully selected the time and place and waited for days to get the perfect shot. often exposing himself to predators and tropical diseases in the process.

A native of the Netherlands who resides in Santa Cruz. Calif., Lanting has been rightfully hailed as one of the great nature photographers , of our time. His influential work appears in magazines, books, and exhibits across the globe. For more than two decades, he has documented wildlife and mankind's relationship with nature in locales from Antarctica to the Amazon. He likes to portray the creatures of the wild as ambassadors for the preservation of precious ecosystems, and many of his publications have broadened awareness of endangered ecological treasures in the far comers of the planet.

Lanting's work has been commissioned numerous times by National Geographic, where he is the publication's well-known photographer in residence. His many laminating assignments have ranged from an exhaustive search for the fabled bonobos of Central Africa to a unique circumnavigation by sailboat of South Georgia Island in the sub-Antarctic. Lanting's more recent efforts include a series of American landscapes and profiles of global hot spots.

Not surprisingly, the photographer's books have received numerous awards and much acclaim. "No one turns animals into art more completely than Frans Lanting," praises The New Yorker. His books include Jungles (2000), Penguin (1999), Living Planet (1999), Eye to Eye (1997), Bonobo, The Forgotten Ape (1997), Okavango: Africa's Last Eden (1993), Forgotten Edens (1993), and Madagascar A World Out of Time (1990).

"By immersing himself intellectually, emotionally, and physically in the lives of wild animals ranging from elephants and lions to albatrosses and penguins, [Lanting] has captured on film arresting images that illuminate seldom-seen aspects of the natural world," writes biographer Mirium Helbok.

His images, adds Steven Werner of Outdoor Photographer, "excite a sense of shared discovery for the viewer, a feeling of seeing a well-known creature as if for the first time."

Moreover, his pictorials "bring to life geographic areas ... and often even create the public image of these landscapes and animals for a worldwide audience," observes Uta Henschel in GEO.

"I may be part of the last generation of photographers to be able to show wildlife in all its glory," Lanting maintained in an interview with Outside. "The next generation may have better technology, but what wildlife will be left? Wherever I go, I see whole ecosystems unraveling. The long-term pattern is the demise of wilderness as we know it. I'd rather go at a more leisurely pace, but I'm in a very privileged position, being the eyes of the world."

Lanting is "the finest nature photographer working today," insists former National Geographic editor Wilbur Garrett. The magazine's director of photography, Thomas R. Kennedy, adds that Lanting's "aesthetic vision and knowledge of the subject matter are unlike those of any other natural history photographer [National Geographic] has used. He's able to understand and anticipate animal behavior with the same kind of alacrity that a photojournalist would who is making pictures of people. The animals are unconscious of his presence and, as a result, he can get closer."

"Right from the start, Frans had a deep, abiding love of the natural world. That was apparent in his earliest work.... As a photographer, I know the kind of hardship it takes to do the work he was doing. He would dog something endlessly until he got it, and he had the patience to sit quietly. Those are gifts few photographers really have," notes David Cavagnaro in an interview with Departures. (Cavagnaro and Lanting collaborated on the 1982 book, Feathers.)

"Despite the routine nature of his early subjects, Lanting had a talent that made them appear novel and exotic. Through his lens, even a common beach scavenger like a seagull seemed remarkable." writes Werner.

In an interview with Werner. Lanting confides, "I try to control situations only to a point and then leave the door open to chance by allowing the animals choices or leeway, which then forces me to improvise and react. It becomes more of an interaction than a one-way street where an animal can do only one thing or stay in only one position.... My photographic approach has long been to show the context within which wildlife lives or has to live.... I try not to show only the totem animals, but include little critters that are often overlooked to show that they're all expressions of vital ecosystems. Beyond that. I go to great lengths to illustrate relevant connections between people and animals, be they positive or negative."