Raj Sekhar Aich’s IRIDESCENT SKIN is the first ever ethnographical exploration of the Great White Sharks and their interaction with human beings
Niyogi Books is proud to announce the publication of Iridescent Skin: A Multispecies Journey of White sharks and Caged Humans by Raj Sekhar Aich.
The first of its kind, multispecies sensory ethnography—a sensitive, comprehensive exploration of Great White Sharks and their interaction with human beings. Laced with stunning images of white sharks in their natural environment, it discusses the historical, cultural, cinematic, psychological and ecological aspects of human–shark encounters, particularly in New Zealand.
Announcing its release, the author says: “This is a book of duality. … the duality of the lived lives of the humans and the great white sharks … the duality of lives [in] … Kolkata and … New Zealand … the duality of a highly scientific exploration in marine and shark research as much as my personal journey. At the end, it is a love story among the lands stretched across the globe, deep oceans, humans and fish, and eternal lovers in various tangible and non-tangible forms.”
Commenting on the book, Trisha Niyogi, COO & Director, Niyogi Books, says: “We are proud to publish Iridescent Skin, the first-ever multispecies research on humans and sharks, a sensory autoethnography—a unique journey, taken by marine anthropologist Prof. Raj Sekhar Aich through the lives of the great white sharks of Foveaux Strait, New Zealand.”
ABOUT THE BOOK
Iridescent Skin is the first of its kind multispecies ethnography on humans and white sharks, entangled through the practice of cage diving at the very end of New Zealand. It is based on an immersive field work of marine anthropologist Prof. Raj Sekhar Aich, and his friend, research assistant, and anthropologist—Soosan Lucas, as they go in search of the elusive and mystified Great White Sharks of Foveaux Strait. This is not a ‘shark book’, although it revolves around sharks in the classical sense of the manner. It is also not merely an academic book, although it is based on detailed academic investigation. Neither is it an exploration of shark behaviour or ecology, although they are certainly part of it, and no, it is not even a book about shark attacks, although shark bites are featured here. It is, on the surface, a sensory narrative of human and white shark encounters, but beneath the ripples, it is a story of love: among humans, rivers, oceans, bricks, stones, and sharks.
As Prof. Agustín Fuentes puts it, the book ‘invites the reader along…at the intersection of two sentient species, humans and white sharks.… The book you hold in your hands is an enticement into the experiential journey of a scholar, artist and narrator who starts out with the goal of appreciating or assessing a multispecies entanglement, but ends up traversing a tangle of personal, social, historical, ecological and perceptual water/land/ species-scapes… This is an immersive multispecies anthropology.
Price: INR 4500 / Format: Hardback / Pages: 492
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“This is not a traditional shark book. … Raj’s research is crucial in showing just how little we know about white sharks.” — Author of Among the Bone Eaters: Encounters with Hyenas in Harar Marcus Baynes-Rock