On My Stand - June 2024: ”The Photo Ark” by Joel Sartore
What I'm Enjoying This Month
Quick Recap: I decided to have a local artist build a book display stand for me so I could view my collection of artbooks throughout a given month: selecting one each month and then periodically turning the pages to see more of the content. This publication is a brief snapshot of what’s “on my stand” this month. See the genesis of this idea HERE. See last month’s final post HERE. And to be clear: Unless otherwise identified in the text, I do NOT own any of the images you’ll see in this publication nor am I claiming any credit for having any part in producing them.
”The Photo Ark” by Joel Sartore
My wife and I were intrigued by a 2022 Sixty Minutes segment on the photographer, Joel Sartore. (While this is not the segment we watched, you can get an idea of what Sartore does HERE.) Not only were we impressed by his photographic skill, but also by his chosen artistic mission: to document as many animal species as possible via photography in an effort to bring attention to the desperate need to protect them. Thus “The Photo Ark” was born. So for June 2024, The Photo Ark is On My Stand.
The real beauty and genius of Sartore’s book is how he intentionally selects both much-photographed creatures and ones you’ve likely never heard of. Below you see two images: a Malayan Tiger - similar to images we’re familiar with - and Horsfield’s tarsier - a creature unknown to most of us.
Sartore is also very intentional in featuring all types of creatures, even some of the “lowliest.”
In coming up with how to curate the book and how to lay out the many, many images, it’s evident that certain themes emerge when Sartore pairs seemingly disparate species on facing pages. For example, the images below highlights the commonality of similarly-shaped “noses” by the African Spoonbills (on the left) and the Proboscis Monkey (on the right).
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 roughly 20,000 species, with an emphasis on those facing extinction. He has photographed more than 11,000 already. - from Sartore’s website
And as you might expect, Sartore uses the images in the book as educational opportunities as well. Below, for example, the parrots on the facing pages are used to explain how certain animals use color as gender-markers.
One of my favorite things about The Photo Ark is how Sartore uses clever titles which often feature a play on words about the book’s given subjects. Below is a facing-page example entitled, The Owl and The Pussycat - clever (and cute)!
You can purchase The Photo Ark (Hardcover, 400 pages, 600 photographs) HERE.
More from The Photo Ark in mid-June!
I love the intimacy of looking at all the details. I love this aspect of his work.