Nature — Stilled

Description

Award-winning photographer Jane Ussher spent several weeks in Te Papa’s natural history collection storage areas shooting this outstanding book, and the result is a true treasure. Stunningly photographed and beautifully designed, its 157 images capture the glory of the insect, fish, mollusc, and botanical specimens that represent the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’s vast and scientifically important collections. Te Papa’s expert curators and collections managers have written the short texts about each natural history object, giving concise and unique insights into the fascinating characteristics of each of them. From photographs of huia and kakapo to vivid x-rays of fish, gloriously coloured moths and butterflies, unique mosses, and lichens collected in Antarctica, this outstanding book pays tribute to the glories of our natural world. "Beautifully done. This book shows immaculate production and sensitivity for Jane Ussher’s careful yet expressive photography and the overall subject. This is balanced with the designers’ own spirit and attitude in the typography, colour palette and materials, including the quietly radical chromatic-plate ordering that results in unexpected interspecies juxtapositions (at one point: crab, zebra, trout, moths, lichen and beetle). Respectful and joyful collaboration is evident across the project: between publisher, editors, photographer, curators, technicians and the designers. Subtle but defining details like the tonalities across animal subjects, photo backdrops, the quarter-bound linen stock, two-toned marker ribbons and marbled endpapers all match the attention to typography throughout. The cover display type is ultimately revealed to be derived from the Dominion Museum foundation stone, and the body text is set in an additional typeface designed specifically for the book – in the three different weights with italics, no less. If method acting involves a sincere performance through in-depth and lived research that identifies emotionally with the given subject, this is method designing. Stunning." —PANZ Book Design Awards 2021, winner of Best Book and Best Illustrated Book Jane Ussher MNZM is one of New Zealand’s best-known photographers. The staff photographer for the New Zealand Listener for many years, she now has her own photography practice and regularly works for leading magazines and book publishers. Her many books include Coast: A New Zealand Journey (with Bruce Ansley), Worship: A History of New Zealand Church Design (with Bill McKay), The New Zealand Horse (with Deborah Coddington), Face to Face (with Paul Moon), Hillary’s Antarctica (with Nigel Watson), Islands: A New Zealand Journey (with Bruce Ansley), and Still Life: Inside the Antarctic Huts of Sco

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