16 Mar 2018

The photo ark of the world's captive species

From Nine To Noon, 10:14 am on 16 March 2018

National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore decided on an ambitious goal 13 years ago.

Sartore is the founder of Photo Ark a project to photograph the world's 12,000 captive species to draw attention to how quickly some of them are disappearing from the planet.

So far, he's documented nearly 8000 from zoos, wildlife centres and aquariums in more than 40 countries around the world.

The photos are striking. All the animals are pictured against a black or white background - many of them looking directly at the camera.

Sartore says it's a bold mission with a simple aim - to inspire viewers to care about the natural world.

“It’s about getting people to look these animals in the eye and see that there’s great beauty and intelligence there.”

The studio lighting makes all creatures great and small equal, he says.

“The sparrow or the toad are every bit as big and important as a grizzly bear or a tiger.

“It’s a good chance for all animals to have an equal voice.”

He says his main aim is to encourage people to fight to save “big tracts of habitat.”

“We have to think about more than Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump, we have to think about more than the price at the pump and who won the ball game.”

National Geographic has 85 million followers on Instagram and his pictures have never had more reach, he says.

“I’m delighted we can inject nature into their minds a little bit and take their minds off all the common things that people think about.

“I think it is the best time in history to really get the word out about saving habitat, saving species.”  

By looking at these animals directly in the eye we see their intelligence, Sartore says.

“Animals have great intelligence and many are as smart as we are, at least they’re not trashing the planet you know?”