from the Sea of Cortez

“One soundscape is worth a thousand pictures…” So said musician and naturalist Bernie Krause, co-opting the well worn phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” and taking it a step further into his realm.  He was interviewed on Nature’s podcast (last segment) this week, ostensibly to promote his new book The Great Animal Orchestra (Hachette) as it seems he has been doing the rounds and the book has been reviewed in many places already. In the book he apparently expands more on the dimensionality of images, time and sound and how they relate in this context. Previously a session musician and composer Krause became interested in using wild sounds for music. This path led him to the idea that sound recordings can tell us more about habitats and ecosystems than visuals can. He has also been able to show that disruption of these places, such as after selective logging practices in Lincoln Meadow CA, has a drastic effect on the nature of the place by demonstrating that the sound is less rich with variety, with life. He intimates that photographs and images can seduce and lull us into a false sense of security. But maybe they do not tell us everything we need to know. “We are a visual culture in the west, however sound can tell us a very different story.” This soundscape technique is now being used by ecologists to evaluate their study areas.

The podcast is definitely worth a listen, if only for the purity of the natural sounds themselves and the stories that go with them, but I am also very interested in the book and the research as a whole. It made me think that natural world photographers, especially ones with an interest in conservation and ecology such as those belonging to iLCP, could make more use of  sound in their work. One way would be to use the binaural microphone/earphones from Soundman (link) that John Stanmeyer has recently been raving about on his blog (John Stanmeyer – becoming binaural). These microphones record dual channel stereo sound separated by the natural width of the human head. Thus, the sound recorded is heard on playback almost as if you were standing there yourself. Couple that with compelling photographs and you are put right into the heart of the environment.

Take some time, plug in your own headphones, and fall under the spell–as I did–of some of the natural world soundscapes from the book under the “Audio and Video” tab on Hachette’s dedicated book page here.

I’d be interested to hear if anyone as a natural world or conservation photographer is already accompanying their photography with something like this. I’d also love to hear your input on the soundscapes. Have you ever really listened, not just stopped and looked, to the natural world? How does it make you feel? Can this really be used in ecological studies?