‘ How did you feel when you saw 80,000 birds in Norway at once? Did the sound of those birds flying at the same time remind you of some music or someone very close to your heart, sir?
If I see a single elephant in a temple festival, I will treat the memory of the elephant for a week as if I was the proud owner of that elephant. How did you describe your happiness to the people around you after seeing that elephant herd in Africa?”
This is an excerpt and the English translation of a 1000 word long message that, Alamelu, a young Tamil girl sent me. I had sent a copy of my book to my uncle, and Alamelu helps take care of him. This young girl pored over my book the whole day and then sent a long message through my cousin and while the English translation itself moved me, listening to an aunt read her message in Tamil, was even better.
I have often scoffed at any creator saying that if their creation touches even a single person that is enough reward for them. I have changed my perspective a little bit now. Honestly, what more could one want?
So... here it is.
Whispers from the Wild.
A 200 + pages, hard cover book that is a collection of what I believe are some of my better images and with a little text to give the reader a good idea of the context behind the images and the world that the subjects live in. A project that took the better part of the last 12-15 months, if not longer.
Once I was able to convince myself to write a book ( took a little time and effort ! ), I struggled for a long while to identify the theme of the book. It obviously had to be different from my blog. At the same time it needed reflect the reasons I became obsessed about this hobby, while not sounding like any expert on any aspect, wildlife or photography, since I am not one.
Clarity slowly dawned that it just needed to reflect the love I have for the outdoors and maybe transfer some of that to the reader.
Next, I struggled over the title. After knocking around a few options, I decided on Wild Obsessions. I was re-reading Paul Nicklen’s Polar Obsessions at that time and…well, he is a good role model, isn’t he ?
Some good friends felt strongly about the second word ‘Obsession’ – too negative, they felt. I dawdled a fair bit but on reflection, I felt the title focused on me, whereas the focus had to be on the wild. I wanted to be removed from the picture.
A little later, another option came up…and that stayed as the title. Whispers from the Wild.
I am rather fond of it. (Naturally.)
Then came the writing bit.
I read Stephen King’s On Writing. I started lapping up Anne Lamont’s Bird by Bird. I pored over essays on how to write better. About structure. Form. Spine. Style. Grammar. Everyone said two things. First, write a lot. Second, write your first draft freely but edit strictly.
I don’t think I managed to do a great job of converting those lessons. A few wonderful friends and, towards the end, my sister, stepped in, gave me blunt and useful feedback and generously stepped in to correct all the mistakes that I had peppered the text with.
I tried to break my usual structured format. I tried to go in for a looser, freer approach. I kept the sections different ( I avoided chapters in the traditional sense of the word ) – it randomly moves from a specific place, to a specific animal in a specific place, to a specific animal across the world, to elements of Nature… it just wandered around.
Working in an unstructured manner wasn’t something I was initially comfortable with, but I must say that slowly it felt wonderfully liberating.
The next and the biggest headache was to select the images.
There was great fun in going through images that I had taken right at the start of my journey. My tastes have undoubtedly changed ( evolved, is the word I would like to use :) ) and it was a delightful experience of coming across previously unselected images that I absolutely loved now !
But then the problem arose. Which ones make the cut ?
There are some photos that you are emotionally attached to because of the memories it evokes about the place, or the moment. Which ones from the many of that moment do I pick ?
Then, what is it that I want the images to convey ? Should I try to match the text closely ? Will I end up leaving out many of the others that I love ? And, there are so many beautiful birds…which ones do I select ??? Which of those hummingbird pictures are the best ? Can I sneak in this image that I love, elsewhere ?
Does this hummingbird make the cut ?
I love the Arctic tern. This is such a lovely in flight pic. But, will the other one look better in a book ?
It was a bloody headache, let me assure you and even now I look at some image and wonder if I should have actually gone with another one.
Then there were the quotes.
Of course, I love them. I can’t seem to get enough of them.
And there are so many of them. I might love one, one day only to think the following day, that another one seems to be so much better. And, how do I squeeze in a Dr Suess quote, because…well, its Dr Seuss, and I love him. Sadly, I was forced to leave out a Bilbo Baggins quote.
Tough.
A Van Morrison quote in a photography book ?? It is just so perfect for this place though
Then, of course, all these elements had to be laid out in a pleasing and friendly manner. A wonderful duo at Leroc Design came out with what I felt was a simple and very elegant design. I am afraid that despite that I made their life rather miserable with my innumerable requests and changes in my thoughts. They were absolute champs in the way they tolerated me.
There was one thing that I learnt which I never expected to. During the entire process, there were times that I felt as if I was retro fitting stuff. Most of the images were taken before the notion of any book was in my head. Is the text leading the images or the other way around ?
How would it be if I were creating images in the field with an idea of how that image could possibly be used in the future ?
I have heard Art Wolfe say that any point in time he would be working on 6-7 ( or was it even more ) book themes in his head. That allowed him to identify opportunities in the field a lot better. Sounds a little scary. I have always struggled to identify long term themes and projects. Worth a try though ?
Anyway…all that is a different matter.
Right now, the books are available on Amazon, priced at Rs. 2500/- and this is the link .
Unfortunately, the books are only available within India. In case any of you living outside India are keen, you could drop me a mail at ashok@ashoknair.in and we can explore the costs involved :)
Hope you consider buying the book, and hope you will enjoy reading it !!!
Let me end with a quote.
" A writer only begins a book. A reader finishes it." - Samuel Johnson
Do let me know how you found Whispers from the Wild.
V good