Serengeti Spy: Views from a Hidden Camera on the Plains of East Africa
*Starred Review* What would it be like to travel East Africa on foot, like our hunter-gatherer ancestors? What would it be like to meet the animals of the vast Serengeti-Mara ecosystem on their own terms, as their predator, prey, or equal? Shah, who with his brother, Manoj, has been photographing the Serengeti for almost 20 years (The Circle of Life, 2003; African Odyssey, 2007), decided to explore this point of view, to try to get close to and even among the animals and to see them as they see each other. Inventing a tortoise-like remote camera and linking it to a TV monitor in his distant truck, Shah was able to trip the shutter when he saw an image he liked. The results are an amazing set of from-the-ground-up views of the iconic wildlife of the Serengeti. The camera angle, coupled with how close the camera could be placed to the animals (by using waterholes, game trails, etc.) gives an immediacy to the images that even the best use of long lenses cannot match. Wildebeest literally leap over the camera as they cross a river. We are in the middle of the action at a carcass as jackals vie with hyenas for any leftover scraps. We even come face to face with a troop of curious baboons as they investigate the camera. A wonderful new look at a much-photographed cast of animal characters. --Nancy Bent