Joel Sartore's Photo Ark Hits 18,000 Species—Here's How He Captures Them

Archive of Animal Photography Reveals 18,000 Species and Counting

Joel Sartore's Photo Ark Hits 18,000 Species—Here's How He Captures Them

For 20 years, National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore has been documenting Earth's animal diversity through his Photo Ark project. Starting with a naked mole-rat in 2006, he has now photographed 18,000 species, including the critically endangered red handfish. His portraits, set against black and white backdrops, aim to make even the smallest creatures look significant and inspire conservation. The project has also funded on-the-ground efforts, such as restoring Florida's Pine Rocklands and breeding Ecuadorian harlequin frogs.

“We photograph a lot of animals that the world would never see without this project,” Sartore says.
  1. technothrasher

    My buddy is on a quest to be the first to photograph all forty species of wild cats. He's at 38 of 40 (I'm at 7, so I don't think I've got any chance of winning.) He's trying to finish up within the next six months or so, and is currently down in Chile trying to get a güiña. He recently told me, though, that his victory may be short lived, as a group of scientists reviewing cat species are likely about to break some of the small cats up into additional separate species and he'll have to get those too.

  2. HelloUsername

    Related "Photo Ark – An effort to document every species living in zoos and sanctuaries (nationalgeographic.org)" 23.apr.2020 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22953622 9 comments

  3. mallory854

    This is my favorite type of news! Animals are the absolute best and I love learning about new ones we've discovered.

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