THESE MOTHERS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU THINK

THE PHOTO ARK - JOEL SARTORE

Mother Earth is the mother ship of Mother Nature. Regardless of your opinion about the causes, there’s no denying that these mothers, and, as a result, all mothers are in danger. And, as a result, so are all of us.

Photographer Joel Sartore is on a mission to bring us face to face with more than 12,000 animal species, many of which are endangered, threatened, or near extinction -- their mothers and children are struggling.

“Photo Ark,” Sartore’s 25-year photo documentary project, captures images of a vast range of animals. It aims to connect us with the incredible biodiversity currently alive.

It shocks us with incredible beauty and with the prospect that it is all disappearing. It gives us a bigger understanding of how all life impacts each other.

As we see Sartore’s portraits of animal mothers and their young, we see exactly what we must save -- the chance for procreation for all. Sartore’s message: To know these animals is to save them. And with good reason.

“It is folly to think that we can destroy one species and ecosystem after another and not affect humanity. When we save species, we’re actually saving ourselves,” says Sartore.

Since 1992, Sartore has been traveling around the world, visiting zoos and wildlife rescue centers to create studio portraits of all of these precious creatures.

Now, in partnership with National Geographic, Photo Ark is becoming a massive encyclopedia of life.

To date, Sartore has photographed over 6,500 animal species, with an emphasis on those facing extinction. Check out Sartore’s latest book, “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals” which offers his first batch of images.  

Written by wildlife expert Douglas H. Chadwick, with a foreword by nature enthusiast and actor Harrison Ford, Jane Goodall considers this book to be “one of the most scientifically important -- and artistically brilliant -- books ever.”

In his review of the “Photo Ark” book, Carl Safina, author of “Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel,” makes an astute observation:

“We love them. We are exterminating them. We have no idea most of them even exist. Every painting of Noah’s Ark shows those familiar few animals we all agree seem worthy of salvation. Elephants, giraffes...but every one of them—and most others on Earth—are in fact in mortal danger now. Their flood is us.”

Safina also points out, “... when expecting new human life we paint animals on our nursery walls. We don’t paint computers or work cubicles. We paint animals, our subconscious, hope-filled wish to greet our unborn child by saying, ‘Welcome into this life-filled world. We are not alone. We have wondrous company.’”

Sartore’s own mother initially inspired his interest in nature, when, as a child, he learned about the very last passenger pigeon from one of her Time-Life picture books. Today, when he’s not traveling the globe, Sartore devotes time to his wife Kathy and their children at home in Nebraska.

In addition to National Geographic magazine, you will also find Sartore’s work published in well as Audubon, Geo, Time, Life, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated.

Sartore has been featured  on numerous television programs, including National Geographic Channel's Explorer, the NBC Nightly News, NPR's Weekend Edition, CBS Sunday Morning Show with Charles Osgood, and “At Close Range” (PBS documentary).

Check out Sartore’s other books, including "Rare: Portraits of America's Endangered Species," "Photographing Your Family," "Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky" and "Let's Be Reasonable."  

And most importantly, be inspired and take action to help save mothers and children of all species now. Here’s a list of wildlife conservation organizations where you can help make a difference.

Read more about Beautiful Mama’s in Extraordinary Blooms For Extraordinary Mothers.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Joel Sartore. “An endangered baby Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) named Aurora, with her adoptive mother, Cheyenne, a Bornean/Sumatran cross (Pongo pygmaeus x abelii) at the Houston Zoo.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
2. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Mother wolf and her cub.” Courtesy of National Geographic.
3. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Augustine, a mother koala with her young ones Gus and Rupert (one is adopted and one is her own offspring) at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
4. Image: by Joel Sartore. “A baby white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) clings to her mother's back at a facility in Florida.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
5. Image: by Joel Sartore. Chameleon mother and baby.  “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
6. IImage: by Joel Sartore. “A 24-day-old Bengal slow loris, named ‘Captain Hook’ because he is missing a hand, taken at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Vietnam. “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
7. Image: by Joel Sartore. “A federally endangered, nine-week-old clouded leopard cub (Neofelis nebulosa) at the Columbus Zoo.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
8. Image: “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
9. Image: by Joel Sartore. “A three-month-old baby chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) named Ruben at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
10. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Twin three month old red pandas (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) at the Lincoln Children's Zoo.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
11. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Red-shanked douc langurs (Pygathrix nemaeus) at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam.” “Photo Ark.” Courtesy of National Geographic.
12. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Joel and Kathy Sartore holds hands at their home in Lincoln, NE.”
13. Image: by Joel Sartore. “A veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) at the Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
14. Image: by Joel Sartore. “A pair of endangered red ruffed lemurs, Varecia rubra, at the Miller Park Zoo.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
15. Image: by Joel Sartore. “An ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California.” “Photo Ark.” Courtesy of National Geographic.
16. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Mei Lun and Mei Huan, the twin giant panda cubs (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) at Zoo Atlanta.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
17. Image: by Joel Sartore. “An endangered Indian Rhinoceros female with calf (Rhinoceros unicornis) at the Fort Worth Zoo.” “Photo Ark.” Courtesy of National Geographic.
18. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Two fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda) at the Saint Louis Zoo.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.
19. Image: by BN App - Download now!
20. Image: by Joel Sartore. “Federally endangered jaguarundis (Puma yagouaroundi) at Bear Creek Feline Center.” “National Geographic The Photo Ark: One Man's Quest to Document the World's Animals.” Book by Joel Sartore. Courtesy of National Geographic.