Joel Sartore is saving wildlife one photograph at a time

Wildlife photographer, author, conservationist, Eagle Scout and National Geographic 2018 Fellow of the Year Joel Sartore has risked his life more than a few times in his career, to capture incredible images of wildlife  for publication in National Geographic and many other magazines.  His career was already impressive, with multiple National Geographic cover photos and fascinating, educational stories, to his credit.  However in 2006 he moved from an acclaimed international photographer to a figure of true inspiration when he used his artistic gifts, passion and professional skills to create The Photo Ark.

Inspired by his young daughter, who expressed dismay at the rate of species extinction in thew world, Joel decided to use photography as a way to document not only about the more well-known species facing extinction, but the small and seemingly insignificant ones as well.  As of this writing, Joel has photographed 12,372 species for The Photo Ark, and predicts it will take a total of 25 years to document every species that is in human care.  His goal is to make the public care about the species and the rate at which we are driving them to extinction, while there is still time to do something about it.

Joel joined us at WE Day KY 2019, where he shared his story about creating the Photo Ark, shared some amazing photos and funny stories, and above all inspired the audience with proof that one person CAN make a difference.  To read more about Joel’s background, visit his website.

Our thanks to Joel for the above photo, and for trying to save our wildlife.