Joel Sartore and the Photo Ark: Visionary

WC attended a presentation by Joel Sartore in Boise a weeks ago Tuesday night. It exceeded WC’s high expectations.

Sartore has had a long career with National Geographic, where WC first saw his work.¹ The Photo Ark is Sartore’s 25-year effort to document the planet’s vanishing species. It’s incredibly ambitious: nothing less than documenting as many species as possible, mostly of animals in captivity. Sartore talked about nature photography and how he came to undertake the Photo Ark. With humor, great stories and stunning photographs, Sartore made the case for supporting wildlife diversity. And made that case very, very well.

ANI088-00011
Two koala joeys cling to each other, waiting to be placed with human caregivers. Once they’re old enough, they’ll be released into the wild.
© Joel Sartore

Portions of Sartore’s immense effort – 7,885 species and counting – are documented in his 2010 photo book, Rare: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species. That collection focuses mostly on North American species in peril, and mostly on vertebrates.

ANI064-00068
A critically endangered sumatran orangutan, Pongo abelii, at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, TX.
© Joel Sartore

More recently, Sartore’s Photo Ark was featured in a three part PBS series, Rare, which documents the origins of his project and the evolving documentary effort. The videos are well worth your time.

On the one hand, the Photo Ark is not traditional nature photography. In WC’s circles, they are “zoo photos,” mostly shots of captive animals in controlled circumstances, almost always against a white or black background. The effect is to visually isolate the animal, to make it the focus of the image. At another level, it explicitly says, “This is not a photo of an animal in the wild.” Which is pretty straight up.

On the other hand, the photo quality is uniformly excellent and occasionally absolutely inspired. Sartore’s goals include having the photos speak to viewers, to make animal diversity a little more real and the jeopardy a little more real, too.

There are photos from Alaska, naturally, including this handsome fellow.

ANI072-00020
Arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii) at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
© Joel Sartore

And from Idaho, as well.

ESA002-00211
Bryn, a federally endangered female Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis). She is one of two Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits left, the end of the line for this race of animals. Since there are no males left, this means only animals intercrossed with the Idaho race will survive.
© Joel Sartore

Sartore speaks with humor, intelligence and emotional force. He has terrific stories – the absence of a Chimpanzee in the Photo Ark, for example – but above all he is passionate in his effort to communicate the importance of the planet’s diversity to the world. He succeeded with a sold-out audience the Egyptian Theater. WC wonders how it plays for those who are less concerned?

See Sartore speak if you get the chance. Visit his amazing web site. And do what you can to help preserve the diversity of animal life on our suffering, over0crowded planet.

 

---

1. WC cancelled his membership in the National Geographic Society when the nonprofit sold out to Rupert Murdoch and Fox. That’s a criticism of National Geographic, not the photographers who work there. ↩