Photo Ark to include NFWC’s Cleo and Sèze

Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.

World-renowned National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore came to Jefferson County on Wednesday, March 20, to capture the images of two birds who live at the North Florida Wildlife Center (NFWC) in Lamont. Cleo, a Grey crowned crane (Balaerica regulorum), and Sèze, a Bar-pouched wreathed hornbill (Rhyticeros undulatus), will soon represent their species in the acclaimed Photo Ark, a National Geographic sponsored project that Sartore founded in 2005, aiming to document 25,000 species in 25 years, before they disappear.
The project focuses on animals that are in human care – in zoos, aquariums, refuges and the like. Sartore hopes that showcasing these animals' stories will help more people understand what's at stake and be inspired to support conservation efforts. To date, he has photographed nearly 16,000 species for the project, and he is continually working with his taxonomist to find 9,000 more to feature before 2030. It's a bit of a moving target, he concedes, because species are always disappearing as well as being discovered. Scientists estimate that 100 to 10,000 species go extinct every year, while about 18,000 new species are found every year. There's lots of work to do.
It's a bright spring afternoon when Sartore arrives at NFWC. He arranges his professional lighting, backdrops and camera equipment inside the staff building, transforming the room as if for a fashion shoot. His stunning Photo Ark images show only the animal, as cleanly and simply as possible, with plain soft white or deep black surroundings that highlight the magnificent features of the species. The set-up becomes a lot like a photo booth, with the animal entering the monochromatic enclosure and the curtain closing, ready for the camera work to begin.
Sèze, the Bar-pouched wreathed hornbill, is up first. She's quite expressive about entering the booth but then settles in for the session. Sartore peels open a section of the Velcroed curtain just enough to insert the camera lens. His practiced manner makes it clear that he has done this a million times, but it's also evident that each encounter gives his artistic eye a fresh marvel to appreciate. Gentle strokes across the outside of the enclosure draw Sèze's attention, giving Sartore a different angle to shoot. Her impressive beak and glistening feathers turn this way and that. She's one moment looking up, open-mouthed, another moment tucking in close to her breast. A bystander can glimpse the viewscreen on Sartore's camera as he checks what images he's got so far. He instructs NFWC Executive Director Ryan Reines to stroke the enclosure in a different place, the camera clicks a dozen more times, and so the session unfolds.
Finally Sartore signals he's done. To ease Sèze's transition back to her familiar habitat at the center, two staff members carry the entire photo booth with her still inside it, like ancient royalty being transported in a palanquin. In a few minutes, Sèze arrives home, hops out and in no time is tossing down a rewarding snack, unaware that her experience could dramatically change the trajectory of interest in saving her vulnerable species.
Next up is Cleo, the endangered Grey crowned crane. She's not shy at all, and saunters from outside, through the front door and into the building all on her own, following Jordan Garella, the director of animal care at NFWC. Cleo, who stands three feet tall from toenail to crown, needs a larger enclosure than Sèze did. For her photo shoot, a four-foot nylon cube has been assembled on the floor, and she follows a trail of tasty tidbits that lead her right inside. The curtain closes, and then the entire aparatus gets lifted up onto a table so that Sartore can take the photos standing. When the camera lens appears to Cleo, she seems pretty curious and comes right up to it. She's too close, in fact, for Sartore to get a good shot. Reines' help is enlisted again, and he reaches in from a corner to help position Cleo for the impactful images that Sartore wants.
Soon, his masterful photos of Cleo and Sèze will be peering out at the people who visit the Photo Ark at www.joelsartore.com/photo-ark/. These birds will join thousands of other animals whose species are at risk, and whose stories Sartore hopes will move people to care while there's still time to act on their behalf.
Though Sartore has been working on the Photo Ark for nearly 20 years, he remains inspired in this work and passionate for the project.
“As these animals go away, so could we,” he says during the recent NFWC photoshoot. “We're all in this together.”
Sartore explains on his website how moved he was by seeing a 1914 photograph of the last passenger pigeon, Martha, in a Time-Life book his mother had, called The Birds.
“This was once the most numerous bird on Earth,” Sartore writes, “with an estimated population of five billion, and here it was reduced to this single female, with no hope of saving it. I couldn’t understand how anyone could tolerate this. I still feel the same way, and I work hard to prevent this from ever happening again. Of course, things have gone much further downhill since then, but that doesn’t mean we don’t all keep trying.”
As a photographer, Sartore says he has been forturnate to be able to bring his enthusiasm and his expertise to an organization that cares as deeply about the environment as he does. To get there, he studied photojournalism at the University of Nebraska and worked as a newspaper photographer for six years before joining the staff at National Geographic. It's a formula he recommends to others who want to be professional photographers.
“Become an expert and spend years at it,” he advises. “Then find a group who cares about what you love.”
National Geographic has sent Sartore to the NFWC four times now for images to add to the Photo Ark. He began his most recent visit with a personal tour of the center, taking a genuine interest in all the residents, new and old, and the ongoing expansion of habitats. When he photographs an animal, he explains, he's not only telling its story but also the story of the human agents who are entrusted with its care. Sartore wants people “to hear about the places we work and be inspired by what they do, as I am.”
Thus, when people learn about Cleo and Sèze, they also learn about the conservation work being done by the folks at the NFWC, who care for more than 35 species right here in Jefferson County and maintain partnerships with eight other conservation organizations around the world. Their combined efforts help rare and endangered species to propogate, support restoration of critical habitat areas and educate the public about the complexities of ecological problems on our planet.
To fuel your inspiration, visit www.northfloridawildlife.org and www.joelsartore.com/photo-ark/.