It’s difficult to compel somebody to want to “tip the needle” when it comes to conservation without first making them fully aware of the issues at hand, Joel Sartore said Tuesday.
And in today’s information age, when folks are bombarded with messaging from all angles, he’s taken a simple but direct path to convey his message — with some of the most visually stunning pictures of animals ever taken.
Sartore, a Kansas native who eventually became a photographer for National Geographic, was at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center Tuesday to discuss his “Photo Ark” project.
Sartore specializes in documenting endangered species and landscapes around the world.
He is the founder of the Photo Ark, a 25-year documentary project to catalog more than 12,000 species of animals kept in zoos around the world. (He’s photographed roughly 6,000 of the species.)
Sartore noted climate change and urban expansion have threatened several species, to the point that thousands could be extinct by 2100.
While he conceded most in the audience won’t be around by then, it’s folly to not consider the long-term ramifications for mankind.
One simple illustration is the Monarch butterfly, which typically migrates through eastern Kansas en route to Mexico.
But as plants favored by the Monarchs are eradicated, the colorful butterflies have dwindled.
Sartore offered a simple solution: plant milkweed.
“If you plant milkweed, the Monarchs will come back,” he said. “When we save species, we’re actually saving ourselves.”
Sartore’s 50-minute program features hundreds of pictures and assorted video clips of his work to photograph and catalog endangered species.
He repeated the program three times Tuesday, twice for local middle- and high-schoolers and once Tuesday evening for the public.
“The Photo Ark” was sponsored by the Sleeper Family Trust.
PHOTO: With his photo of a three-toed sloth behind him, National Geographic photographer and Kansas native Joel Sartore talks to a group of students Tuesday about his “Photo Ark” project, a 25-year endeavor to catalog more than 12,000 species of animals kept in zoos around the world. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
