National Geographic Photo Ark – Joel Sartore

In 1995, National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore started the Photo Ark, an archive of intimate and stunning photographic portraits of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. To date, Sartore has visited over 40 countries and photographed more than 6,000 species to “inspire people to care and help protect these animals.” This is the first major museum exhibition of the Photo Ark in the Midwest with a special concentration on North American and Prairie animals.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Whether you go or not, National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals considers the major cross-platform initiative and lifelong project by photographer Joel Sartore to make portraits of the world's animals—especially those that are endangered. His powerful message, conveyed with humor, compassion, and art: to know these animals is to save them.

Sartore intends to photograph every animal in captivity in the world. He is circling the globe, visiting zoos and wildlife rescue centers to create studio portraits of 12,000 species, with an emphasis on those facing extinction. He has photographed more than 6,000 already and now, thanks to a multi-year partnership with National Geographic, he may reach his goal. This book showcases his animal portraits: from tiny to mammoth, from the Florida grasshopper sparrow to the greater one-horned rhinoceros. Paired with the eloquent prose of veteran wildlife writer Douglas Chadwick, this book presents a thought-provoking argument for saving all the species of our planet.

National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals