Frans Lanting Quotations

Nature's my muse and it's been my passion.

Life is a force in its own right. It is a new element. And it has altered the Earth. It covers Earth like a skin.

Biodiversity starts in the distant past and it points toward the future.

Tourism is important because it can create sustainable local economies. Id much rather have 1,000 tourists going up the Tambopata than 1,000 gold miners.

Life needs a membrane to contain itself so it can replicate and mutate.

It's up to us as photographers to give voice to the natural world.

Water is the key to life, but in frozen form, it is a latent force. And when it vanishes, Earth becomes Mars.

A lion is not a lion is not a lion. As individuals, as mates, as members of a society, they're all very different.

I think a photograph, of whatever it might be - a landscape, a person - requires personal involvement. That means knowing your subject, not just snapping at whats in front of you.

What my eyes seek in these encounters is not just the beauty traditionally revered by wildlife photographers. The perfection I seek in my photographic composition is a means to show the strength and dignity of animals in nature.