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Everything in this book invites us to marvel at the Colombian tropics. As the point of convergence of the tectonic plates, flora and fauna of three American continents, the world's two largest oceans and its most variegated mountains, it is a territory of excess. The restless lens of Aldo Brando focuses on this natural setting, furnishing us with a panoply of images that excite both the eye and the imagination. As he eminent Colombian writer German Arciniegas points out, this book is "a vertical exploration of a country which is the synthesis of the Americas." Novel and unique, it is a summary of fifteen years work by a photojournalist whose documentation of wild life goes beyond capturing the physical contours of the seas, islands, jungles, savannahs, mountains and inhabitants of Colombia. "It penetrates into the beauty and soul" of natural wonders, as one of the world's leading professionals in the field-- the American wildlife photographer Art Wolfe-- recognizes in his prologue. The book's five chapters are accompanied by an essay written by the Colombian journalist, Arturo Guerrero, who invites us to share in the astonishment and poetry found in nature and science. The dazzling photographs of this book evoke the magic of the tropical ecosystems of the new world, and draw near to the intimacy of nature. It also allows us to reflect upon mankind's contradictory relationship with the natural world. Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, writes in his introduction: "It is my hope that this book helps to encourage the conservation of Colombian ecosystems, which are a valuable resource, not only for inhabitants of that nation but also for the world."The book concludes with a heartfelt message by the Colombian poet William Ospina. Aldo Brando. As a student of marine biology in the early 1980's, Brando became interested in wildlife photography and film-making, specializing in Colombia's tropical ecosystems. His work has appeared in such books as "Coral Reefs of the Caribbean," "Mangroves," "Paramos," "Colombia from the air," "For a Country Within the Reach of the Children," all published by Villegas Editores; "Malpelo, Oceanic Island of Colombia," published by Imprenta Mariscal/National Geographic. His photographs have also appeared in "Americas," "BBC Wildlife," "Earth," "Climbing," "Natural History," "Terre Sauvage," the" San Francisco Examiner," "Sinra and Wildlife Conservation," among other magazines. His collective exhibitions include the Smithsonian's international display on tropical rainforests, and "Forests Revisited: Expeditions at the End of the Millennium," held at the United Nations in New York.
