Photos: South India’s wildlife comes alive in a new book of photographs
Known naturalists Surya Ramachandran and David Raju’s new book, “Photographic Field Guide – Wildlife of South India,” is a comprehensive field guide comprising all mammals, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles and amphibians of the six states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) of South India. The book covers 1,920 species belonging to the six taxa using 1,850 photographs contributed by around 280 photographers from India and abroad.
An extremely rare species, the galaxy frog faces the main threat from the conversion of forested areas to cultivated land. (Photo by David Raju)
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The grey-headed fish eagle is a fish-eating bird of prey from South East Asia with a moderately small population. (Photo by Surya Ramachandran)
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A striped coral snake. The book, "Photographic Field Guide – Wildlife of South India" covers all mammals, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, reptiles and amphibians of India's six southern states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana). (Photo by David Raju)
Among the 12 species of deer found in India, the mouse deer is the smallest, and they live a fairly reclusive life in the forest. (Photo by David Raju)
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A relatively small owl with rounded wings, the Sri Lanka Bay Owl is uncommon and known to breed in hollow trees. (Photo by Surya Ramachandran)
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Modus Vivendi (1000 people – 1000 Homes), 2000: In this self-portrait, a work of mixed media on canvas, Kallat appears as a swaggering, bespectacled juggler of heart and brain. The painting is an exploration of selfhood in the city of Mumbai, where he grew up and lives. The individual, lost in the multitudes, wanders in a state of perpetual disorientation, as reflected in the work. The radiating streaks of red, orange and green, reminiscent of thermal imagery, were achieved by texturing the canvas with layers of paint or canvas and then peeling off some parts to attain the desired visual effect.
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Sheer delight: While out surveying the remote Phoenix Islands Archipelago, Schmidt Ocean Institute scientists captured rare footage of a “glass octopus”, named so because it is completely see-through. What one does see when one shines a light on it is its optic nerve, eyeballs, and digestive tract. Even though this species has been known to science since 1918, scientists were forced to study about this animal through specimens found in the guts of predators, before this sighting.
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Herald / Harbinger is a permanent public art installation by Ben Rubin and Jer Thorp. It broadcasts the sounds of the Bow Glacier cracking and breaking 200 km away, to the centre of Calgary, one of Canada’s largest cities, almost in real time. The sounds and imagery shaped by data from a glacial observatory are broadcast through 16 speakers and seven LED arrays.
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Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022): The movie explores the many dimensions of parenthood and love through the story of a Chinese-American immigrant named Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh) who, while struggling to run a failing laundromat business, uses her newfound powers to travel across multiple realities to save the world and work on her strained relationships with her loved ones. It’s a family drama that’s fast-paced, funny and, above all, tackles earnestly the idea of healing from intergenerational trauma.
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At first sight: For centuries, sunspots were thought to be Mercury passing across the Sun. By the early 17th century, with the invention of the telescope, astronomers could get a clearer look. In 1610, Galileo Galilei (who first used the telescope to observe space) in Italy and his British contemporary Thomas Harriot identified these as spots on the Sun. Seen here are 35 drawings of sunspots created by Galileo between June 2 and July 8, 1612.
