Tony Wu and William Tan spent much of the 1990s traveling, diving, researching, photographing, and writing. The result of their hard work is the breath-taking 168-page coffee table book, Silent Symphony, which was awarded the Grand Prize for Best Book of the Year at the 28th annual Festival of Marine Images. Underscoring that award, the review on Wetpixel proclaims that Silent Symphony "may be the most beautiful, most important underwater-themed book ever published."

Featuring photos ranging from the just gorgeous to the superbly sublime, (like the series of images of a Commensal Crab living inside the anus of a Sea Cucumber), each image is accompanied by informative and often amusing text. Providing such full, well-rounded descriptions of the marine life helps to make clear that it's not just fish down there under the waves -- it's a vibrant community filled with dynamic creatures. The book is way more than just pretty pictures, though. Taking advantage of an extended metaphor, Silent Symphony demonstrates how the sea, like a symphony, derives its beauty and meaning from the relationship among its parts: in the same way that one instrument can not play a symphony, one fish can not make an ecosystem. Ultimately, not only is Silent Symphony a photo essay of the marine world, it's also a treatise explaining why ocean conservation is imperative. Ultimately, Wu and Tan point out that everything in the sea works as one, like instruments in a finely tuned orchestra; removing any single player from the group would shatter an otherwise beautiful piece of music.

If you're interested in seeing a few more images from inside the book, check out Wetpixel or Silent Symphony's website. If you'd like to pick up a copy of this mesmerizing book for yourself, contact Tony Wu directly at Tony AT tony-wu DOT com. The books run $50 (plus shipping) per copy.