I found it amazing that no one had ever told this story. With so many nature documentaries about every conceivable subject, no film maker had ever stopped for a moment to hear what these fish have to say.



This book collects its images and texts from the documentary series "Battle of the Shells", that follows the lives of six fish as they struggle to adapt to a new artificial environment.



This is not a photo book, because the images are stills from the film. It's not a book about the species either.



The working title of the documentary series was "Fish brother", in an allusion both to the "Big Brother" format, but more importantly, to the uncanny humanity of their range of behaviors and emotions.



Pemba was the only narrator of the series and at times, she more than fairly questioned my own intentions. But at the end, we made peace and she allowed me some space in this book, so that I could also share my thoughts about what happened during the six weeks of continuous filming.