For this project, Middleton and Liittschwager gained unprecedented access to photograph on and around these protected islands …

For this project, Middleton and Liittschwager gained unprecedented access to photograph on and around these protected islands that are otherwise completely off-limits to people. Home to nearly seventy percent of our nation's coral reefs, known as the ''rainforests of the sea,'' the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is a remarkable ecosystem that supports a vast array of interdependent native plants and animals that have evolved in this habitat over millions of years, many existing nowhere else on the planet.

The result is Archipelago. With its more than 300 stunning images, the book illustrates the spectacular diversity of these ocean and island creatures, as well as profiles many of the people dedicated to the preservation of this habitat. The inaccessibility of these islands and the need to protect them means that few people will ever be able to visit them in person, though now, for the first time, the area's inhabitants are available for all the world to see through this important body of work.

David Liittschwager is a freelance photographer who worked with Richard Avedon in New York City from 1984 to 1986. Since 1986 …

David Liittschwager is a freelance photographer who worked with Richard Avedon in New York City from 1984 to 1986. Since 1986 his emphasis has been on portraiture, focused primarily on natural history subjects.

Susan Middleton has been deeply involved in the documentation and portraiture of endangered animals, plants, sites, people, and cultures for the last 25 years. She chaired the California Academy of Sciences department of photography.

Together, Liittschwager and Middleton are well known for their arresting portraits of endangered North American plants and animals. They have published three books, and they won an Emmy in 1997 for the National Geographic television documentary America's Endangered Species: Don't Say Goodbye. They have an active lecture schedule and their work has appeared in publications the world over. Susan and David each live in San Francisco, California.