Nikon UK Press Release

Nikon is pleased to support: RAINFOREST A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY 6th October – 5th November

Wednesday July 5, 2006 - “It is so exciting walking into the forest never knowing what I am going to see or discover to photograph next.” Thomas Marent

Nikon has teamed up with Proud Galleries and Dorling Kindersley to present an unprecedented exhibition of wildlife photography. Exhibiting the most astonishing personal photographic study of tropical flora and fauna ever undertaken, Rainforest A Photographic Journey at Proud Camden is the result of one man’s sixteen year love affair with the jungles of the Earth. Overcoming everything from poor light to predatory animals, biting insects, invisible diseases and intense humidity, Thomas Marent has spent his adult life seeking out and photographing the spectacular beauty of the rarest rainforest plants and creatures. From the jungles of Costa Rica, Borneo, and Peru, to Sulawesi and Australia, Proud exclusively showcases an unseen world of epic landscapes and tiny microcosms, great apes and fearsome invertebrates.

Dorling Kindersley have collaborated with The Rainforest Foundation to produce the bespoke photo publication Rainforest A Photographic Journey, and a proportion of proceeds from the book will be donated to the charity that is dedicated to the conservation of the World’s greatest natural resource.

Taken exclusively under natural light and in the wild, the spectacularly enlarged full colour photographs in Rainforest A Photographic Journey offer a unique insight into a largely undiscovered natural universe.

Sponsors
The manufacturers of cameras and equipment used by Thomas throughout his career, Nikon are the kind sponsors of Rainforest A Photographic Journey at Proud Camden.

Rainforest A Photographic Journey, published by Dorling Kindersley is released this autumn. With an unusual white on black design, biological information and Thomas’ anecdotes from his travels to accompany the sumptuous photographs, the book is a uniquely beautiful celebration of the rainforest and its inhabitants. A proportion of the proceeds from each copy will go to the Rainforest Foundation.

Thomas Marent, Photographer: “There are lots of unusual and unknown, small and beautiful animals inside the book. With the enlargements you can see and admire the spectacular beauty of these tiny creatures.”

Sting, founding patron, The Rainforest Foundation “This collection of Thomas Marent’s images, 16 years in the making, brings alive the sheer and awe-inspiring beauty of the rainforest.”

Alex Proud, Director of Proud Galleries: “This show represents not just the achievement of a single man, but signifies a much needed reminder of a rapidly depleting natural resource. The destruction of the rainforest is again reaching epidemic proportions, yet the problem has dropped off our radar in recent years. This exhibition is a celebration of the beauty and wonder in our natural world, but also a timely warning of what we have to lose. The gallery is proud of our collaboration with Dorling Kindersley and The Rainforest Foundation, and we hope to inspire a new generation of interest in this invaluable part of our ecosystem.”

Artist Biography
Born in Switzerland in 1966, as a child Thomas Marent was fascinated by the birds and butterflies in the mountains around his home. He captured wildlife images with his first camera aged 16, and began a lifelong obsession with the natural world.

Thomas’ fascination with the rainforest began in 1989, when he first visited the tropical regions of Northern Australia. He shot wildlife as a hobby, living in his parent’s home and working in the summer as a biologist in order to afford his passion for travel. After occasionally showing his slides to friends, he was persuaded to take photography seriously and it soon became a consuming career.

Proud Galleries
Proud Galleries Group was launched in autumn 1998 by Alex Proud to bring affordable high quality photography to a mainstream market. Based upon a formula of exhibiting accessible shows around popular themes such as music, fashion, film and sport, Proud Galleries instantly took the photography industry by storm. A series of landmark shows including ‘Destroy: The Sex Pistols’, ‘Rankin’s Nudes’, ‘The Rock n Roll Years’, ‘Underexposed’, ‘Rebel Life: Bob Marley’ and ‘The Libertines’ attracted blanket media coverage and full-house, star-studded opening nights. With up to 10,000 customers per show, the galleries soon became the most popular private photographic gallery in Europe.

RAINFOREST A PHOTOGRAPHIC JOURNEY runs 6th October – 5th November 2006 at Proud Gallery Camden, Stables Market,  The Gin House, Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 8AH, 10am–7pm Mon – Thurs; 11am–6pm Fri – Sun
Entry: Free
www.proud.co.uk