M. Krishnan (1912-1996) was endowed with a wide range of interests and amazing prowess as a writer in both his native Tamil and English. He wrote on anything that caught his attention, from dog-shows to cricket, local breeds of cattle to temple carvings, squirrels in his backyard to elephants, gaur and mouse deer of the forests. He did not just write occasionally, but wrote steadily and inspiringly for well over 35 years. A pioneer in the field of black & white photography, Krishnan's contribution to wildlife photography and writing on natural history in India has no parallel. In this special compilation, an effort has been made to select lively and anecdotal text for which Krishnan has been recognized, to accompanyu images that he created which are in a class of their own. E.P. Gee, the eminent naturalist and Forest Officer, described Krishnan in the following words in his famous book, the Wildlife of India, first published in 1964: "I think of M. Krishnan, one of the best naturalists of present day India. He is middle-aged, active and does a lot of writing on natural history for newspapers and magazines. he is an artist also, and an expert wildlife photographer. 'Every Hair' must be his motto, for his pictures show the finest detail of the coats of gaur, sambar, chital and the life, and every wrinkle on the skin of a wild elephant...He is a bit of a 'lone wolf', one who does not care for meetings or advisory boards, but as a naturalist had no equal..."
Ashish and Shanthi Chandola work as a team, making wildlife documentary films. Ashish was born and brought up in the foothills of the Himalaya as Dehra Dun in India, where he also received his schooling. He was exposed as a child to forests, and his early enthusiasm for natural history and photography was fostered and encouraged by his parents and teachers at school. Ashish's fascination with nature and wildlife brought him in contact with some of the great people involved with wildlife conservation at an early age, and after a stint at a jungle lodge as a naturalist, he trained as a wildlife cameraman while on the job as an assistant. He is a freelance cameraman and has shot several wildlife films, mainly in India. Born in Chennai, Shanthi did her schooling in Kolkata. Her introduction to forests and wildlife was first as a tourist, and then working as a naturalist at various wildlife resorts in India. Keen on making wildlife films, she got her big break when she worked on the BBC megaseries, Land of the Tiger: Besides working with Ashish, she also freelances for international television companies as a field assistant, researching films, recording sound and taking still photographs. Ashish and Shanthi live in Bangalore. Thanjavur Nateshachary Ayyam Perumal was born on the 15th of November 1932. A close associate of M. Krishnan, he began serious bird photography in 1960-61, joining the Mysore Photographic society of Bangalore in the same year and the Federation of Indian Photographers in 1962. Showered with numerous awards, he received the Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain (1978) in Nature Photograph, and Master Photographer of the Federation de l'Art Photographique (1983) in Nature Photography. He was awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the Indian International Photographic Council, New Delhi, in 1993. The Karnataka Lalita Kala Academy Award for Nature Photography was conferred on him in 1995. More recently, he was presented the IIPC's Lifetime Achievement Award (2004), and Honorary Fellowship of the Pakistan Salon Group, 2005.