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Arts & Entertainment

Photographer Brings Costa Rica to Venice

Proceeds from Roy Toft's exhibit of rain forest creatures at the G2 Gallery will benefit environmental causes.

It isn't often that a photographer will admit that shooting photos isn't his primary passion, but Roy Toft isn't your typical photographer. 

His real love—the natural world—suits  Abbot Kinney's the G2 Gallery, where a show featuring his work recently opened. The gallery primarily features nature photography and is dedicated to environmental conservation.

"I've always loved nature, it's always been about the animals," said Toft, who has a background in zoology. "Photography came after." 

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In his current exhibit, "Osa: Where the Rain Forest Meets the Sea," enlarged images of tree frogs span an entire wall. Larger-than-life jaguars and several species of birds and monkeys populate the gallery, all photographed in South America. The jaguars are Brazilian, but most of the pictures were taken in Costa Rica.

Toft fell in love with the small, biodiverse country on his first visit 20 years ago. He was especially enchanted by the Osa, a peninsula in the Southern Pacific region, one of the most ecologically diverse areas in the world. 

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Fifty miles long by 15 miles wide, the Osa is inhabited by creatures that are found nowhere else on earth.

Toft visited the Osa three to four times a year over a 15-year span, capturing the rain forest's intricate beauty. 

He chronicled his experience in a recently published book that shares the same title as the show and includes 213 images, some featured in the exhibit. 

Toft estimates he spent about 2,500 hours capturing the images. "Ninety percent of the time while you're working in the rain forest, you're waiting for the shot," he said.

At his artist talk last week, Toft cracked jokes about the humidity and the rough rain forest lifestyle, but those difficulties haven't decreased his drive to promote wildlife conservation.

As with other G2 shows, all of the proceeds from artwork sold will be donated to environmental causes.

As to Toft's second career as a photographer? He's happy to show his work.

"As an artist I feel humbled that people want to look at my pictures, the things I like," he said.

The exhibit will be on view at the G2 Gallery on Abbot Kinney Boulevard through Oct. 24.  For more information, check out www.theg2gallery.com or www.toftphoto.com. To purchase the book, visit www.osabook.com.

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