On his Instagram feed, he mentioned a 3-episode series that was airing on PBS about the photo ark, so of course I asked The Husband to record it on the DVR. The series sat there for several months, and we finally watched it a few weeks back. It was AMAZING! Seeing how he photographs the animals, and understanding why he does it the way he does was fascinating. His goal with the ark is to photograph animals using portrait photography techniques in an effort to help people connect with the animals to hopefully help us want to save animals. He captured lemurs in the wild in Madagascar and showed the devastation of deforestation there. He photographed a nearly extinct Northern White rhino at a zoo in the Czech Republic - she was one of the last 3 of this species ON EARTH. Shortly after Joel photographed this rhino, she died, leaving only 2 animals left ever. That broke my heart. Literally there are only 2 of these rhinos left. TWO. And that was in 2015. According to a quick search of the interwebs, there is only 1 male of this species left - and that's it. Poof, the end of this species.
The book, Rare, is full of amazing photos of beautiful animals that are in varying states on the extinction spectrum. The sections are separated into more than 10,000 individuals, 1,000-10,000 individuals, less than 1,000 individuals, population numbers unknown, and on the rise - populations increasing. At least there is some hope. The book also includes some plant species as well. The photographs are stunning. He photographs everything on both solid black and solid white backgrounds with studio lighting of sorts. The animals aren't shown with plants or other things - just the animals (and plants) plain and simple, front and center - in a portrait. Even ugly things look beautiful. And to think that some of these animals and plants will be gone forever in our lifetime is so tragic. It is difficult to be sad that some animals we consider "pests" are disappearing - I mean, am I sad that I won't get the opportunity to come face to face with a New Mexico Ridge-Nosed Rattlesnake? No.
But everything in our Earth's ecosystem is interconnected. If key species disappear, others will follow, and in an extreme version of this - we'll disappear too. How sad is that? That's the road we are on though, people. Pollution of all kinds, habitat loss, clear cutting, slash and burn deforestation all at our hands contribute to the destruction of our planet. We've only got one. We need to tread more carefully.
At the end of the book, Sartore offers some thoughts on how we can take action. He tries to answer the question - what can any of us do?
"Plenty. First, be aware of what's going on. Find out for yourself. Read. Talk to people who have firsthand experience in the natural sciences. Join your local chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, or any other group that cares about saving the Earth. Above all, don't let anyone tell you what to think. Though some may shove their opinions your way, learn for yourself and make up your own mind. Next, realize that how you live has a real impact on the planet. What is your carbon footprint? How big is your house, and is it well insulated? What size vehicle do you drive? Can you take public transit? Better yet, can you ride a bike or walk instead? And what about your shopping habits? Reduce what you buy. Reuse what you buy. Absolutely, but think of that as a last result. Finally, know that every time you break out your wallet, you can make a difference. Every time you spend money, you are, in effect, voting. You're saying, 'I approve of what this is made of, I approve of who made this and how, I approve of the distance that this was shipped from, and most of all, I want you to do it again and again.' That's real power, and you don't have to wait for an election year to make your voice heard. You can practice this every day."That hits home for me. We can all take actions that will save the planet and we all should take those actions.
This book was awesome, tragic, beautiful, sad, inspiring, depressing. I would definitely recommend checking this book out, or at least the on-line photo ark. Hopefully it will inspire you to make a change too.
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