The nonprofit Lensic Performing Arts Center, a landmark historic theater in the heart of Santa Fe, is home to arts and cultural experiences for everyone, all year round. Photograph: A federally endangered Florida panther, Puma concolor coryi, photographed by Joel Sartore at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo for the National Geographic Photo Ark project - . © Joel Sartore / National Geographic Photo Ark Sartore will discuss the Photo Ark project and share his incredible portraits of the world’s birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates, which he has collected on his travels to more than 40 countries. The project aims to document every species living in the world’s zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, inspire action through education, and help save wildlife by supporting conservation efforts. The National Geographic Photo Ark project () is a multiyear effort to raise awareness and find solutions to some of the most pressing issues affecting wildlife and their habitats. 4, 2020 (SANTA FE, N.M.) – The Lensic proudly presents photographer Joel Sartore, founder of the National Geographic Photo Ark project and the 2018 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year, on March 12, 2020. And so the editors here will say, "Joel, we can't publish your excuses."īill Whitaker: The mosquitoes though my god. And also I hadn't made a good picture in three days. Enjoy Trail Ridge Road which crests at over 12,000 feet including many overlooks to experience the subalpine and alpine worlds along with over 300 miles of hiking trails, wildflowers, wildlife, starry nights, and fun times.
I wanted to show the insect load up there. Rocky Mountain National Park’s 415 square miles encompass and protect spectacular mountain environments. He scored numerous magazine covers, and endured various hardships. Sartore spent his first 16 years at "National Geographic" taking pictures in the field. Well they haven't seen a good zoo and they don't know the conservation effect of good zoos. So when people say well, they're down on zoos. They have these captive breeding programs for some of the rarest animals in the world. Joel Sartore: A lot of 'em only exist in zoos. Now, with natural habitats vanishing, some species can only be found in zoos. In the wild it could take several days to get one good shot. In zoos Sartore can shoot more than 20 species in one day. So he's gonna stand up and look as big as he can. He spent more than an hour taping up the white background. Here's what happened years ago when Joel tried to photograph a chimp. And that animal's often looking you in the eye.
More than a decade ago, National Geographic photographer, Fellow, and 2018 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the year Joel Sartore set out to achieve a very ambitious, righteous goal: to create a photo archive of every single species in the world’s zoos and sanctuaries in order to motivate people to protect them. Joel Sartore: There are no distractions in these pictures. A New York weasel, Mustela frenata noveboracensis, at the John Ball Zoo. It was tough for us just watching him build pop-up studios, switching between backdrops of black and white.īill Whitaker: Why did you decide to use either black or white backgrounds? We saw him work 12-hour days in stifling, humid, hundred degree heat. Joel cares so much he spends half the year traveling the world. If they could see how beautiful this thing is they would care. These are things that nobody will ever know existed if it weren't for the Photo Ark. And that's the case for 90 percent of the species I photograph, maybe 95 percent.
Joel Sartore: There's nobody else coming along to photograph a stink badger. Sartore said he should have photographed the stink badger last, but the little stinker is a pungent prize.