By Stephen Williams

Pink Africa

By Nigel Collar

Photographs by Carlo Man

£30 Harvill

£30 Harvill

ISBN 1-86046-804-7

Of the estimated 6m flamingos in the world, of which there are six distinct species, approximately three quarters live in the soda lakes of East Africa, comprising of 3m Lesser Flamingos and half million Greater Flamingoes.

These lakes are caustic. Being volcanic, their waters are an acrid chemical mix which contain enough soda and sulphates, chlorides and fluorides to strip a man’s skin. They have an almost unbearable stench and can reach temperatures as high as 70 degrees Celsius.

There are no fish in the lakes, but they have high concentrations of algae, tiny insects, crustaceans, molluscs and organic detritus to provide the flamingo’s diet.

A highly specialised bill

Flamingoes have developed a highly specialised bill which filters around 20 litres of lake water daily for edible material. Interestingly, the birds pink colouring is derived from carotenes found in the algae diet. Unless the lake water has been diluted by seasonal rains, flamingos also need to travel daily to find fresh water.

The mating rituals of flamingo pairs are as fascinating as the spectacle of huge flocks. Pre-breeding displays, accompanied by vocal calls, are characterised by head shaking, wing-flashing, stretching, and twisting preens. These dances are a sequel to pair-bonding and usually a life-long monogamous partnership.

Carlo Man’s aerial and ground photography captures the beauty of these noble birds and their environment. Leading ornithologist Nigel Collar’s authorative text explains what scientists know about flamingos and many of the mysteries that still remain unsolved.

He also adds a dire warning about the plight of these birds as man’s intrusions and pollution disrupts the habitat and increasingly threatens the soda-lake species.

Musical Instruments

By Lucie Rault

£30 Thames & Hudson

ISBN 0-500-51035-0

The making of music was one of humanity’s earliest and most universal desires. In this study, all aspects of the social and religious elements of music-making are explored and explained, with over 200 illustrations which celebrate the ingenuity and diversity of traditional music-making.

In a departure from conventional ethno-musicology definitions - which tend to group all instruments in types such as bells (metallophones) that are rung, drums (membranophones) that are struck, stringed instruments (chordophones) that are plucked, scraped or bowed, and horns and flutes (aerophones) that are blown - author Lucie Rault presents her study in five chapters entitled The Voices of Nature, The Body as Instrument, Religious and Ritual Uses, Instruments within Society and Giving Matter a Soul.

While never claiming to be a comprehensive survey of all the instruments of the world, she has been able to identify a basic commonality to all music making, wherever in the world it is found. These range from the earliest imitation of natural sounds and animal calls, the use of found objects to create sound, to the trial and error discovery of materials leading to the evolution of increasingly sophisticated instruments.

This book’s appeal stems from an intuitive rather than scholarly approach. A highly readable text explains the social role that music, voice and dance all served within diverse cultures. The author, Head of the Ethnomusicology department at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris, has chosen many of the illustrations from the Museum’s own collection.

Sahara - The Forbidding Sands

£38 Harry N. Abrams (US)

ISBN 0-8109-4187-2

French photographer Jean-Marc Durou has a passion for the Sahara, and in this book he assembles around 100 of his own photographs to describe the diversity and grandeur of the world’s largest desert.

An opening chapter reproduces some 50illustrations, including early photographs, drawings and paintings, which provides an historical overview, spanning the period of ancient rock carvings, the hardships and heroics of early European explorers, up to the first motorised crossing of the desert in 1922.

The author is a professional photographer and former desert guide who has been travelling to the Sahara for over 20 years. He has an intimate knowledge of the region and unbounded admiration for the nomadic peoples who inhabit such an extreme and ever-changing environment.

A noted author who has previously written a book on the history of Saharan exploration, in this book Durou invites seven contributors - various journalists, naturalists and explorers - to contribute personal accounts of the desert to counterpoint his images.

While these contributions give a nicely rounded perspective to the subject, the translations from the original French are a little awkward. Perhaps because the translations are just too literal, the prose sometimes seems overblown. But that said, this is an impressive work which will inform and entertain any reader with the slightest interest in one of the world’s most fascinating regions.

Passages

By Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher

£15.95 Harry N. Abrams (US)

ISBN 0-8109-2948-1

Last year, African Business’ annual review of photography books featured African Ceremonies, a massive two-volume masterpiece from two of Africa’s most dedicated photographers. Proud as we were to reproduce some of the photographs, we also recognised that the price of £95 would place the book beyond the means of many.

Now, Harry N. Abrams, the book’s New York based publishers, have produced an affordable abridged softback version of the book which features 90 of the original book’s 850 exquisite photographs, selected by editor Robert Morton.

We are pleased to publish a small selection from this wonderful collection.

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