A benefit for the Santa Cruz City Museum of Natural History, Lanting's show, which he has presented almost every year since 1990, came about from his long association with the museum. John Anderson, who when he retired last year had served for 25 years as the museum's assistant curator, says that the first collaboration dealt with Lanting's work on coastal sanderlings. The book that resulted, 1982's Feathers , marked the foundation of his style and established his reputation as a world-class nature photographer. After he became famous, he went gallivanting around the world for seven or eight years, and we didn't see him much. His vision is unique among nature photographers.
Penguins make it a little easier.
Any animal that goes upright and has two legs starts out with a lot of sympathy. But, he continues, that also means that penguins get stereotyped as peoplelike even though they make unique adaptations to their rugged environment. Penguin , though, goes deeper still. Lanting shows birds on a wind-swept, icy plain hunched down, backs to the gale, waiting out the weather, or huddled down, wings over the head like a feathered shield. It's almost as if the birds were trying to say that enduring such a harsh environment isn't all fun and games.