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.".

• Position: Ecology

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...