{"id":7035366,"date":"2026-08-09T16:01:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/this-amazing-archive-of-animal-photography-reveals-18000-species-and-counting-heres-how-joel-sartore-built-his-photo-ark\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T16:01:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T16:01:01","slug":"this-amazing-archive-of-animal-photography-reveals-18000-species-and-counting-heres-how-joel-sartore-built-his-photo-ark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7035366","title":{"rendered":"This Amazing Archive of Animal Photography Reveals 18,000 Species and Counting. Here’s How Joel Sartore Built His ‘Photo Ark’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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For 20 years, the National Geographic photographer has showcased Earth\u2019s animals in a series of striking images that make even the tiniest creatures look immense<\/h2>\n
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Kayla Randall<\/a><\/p>\n

| Digital Editor, Museums<\/span><\/p>\n

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A koala, Phascolarctos cinereus<\/em>, with her babies at Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital,\u00a02011
\n Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span>
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The naked mole-rat<\/a> was first. On August 9, 2006, at the Lincoln Children\u2019s Zoo in Nebraska, Joel Sartore focused his camera on the little rodent with big front teeth<\/a> and snapped pictures.<\/p>\n

As a longtime field photographer for National Geographic<\/em> magazine, Sartore had always been interested in the natural world and cared about its creatures, big and small. But those photographs of the mole-rat sent him in a new direction: It was the inaugural species<\/a> of Sartore\u2019s Photo Ark<\/a> project documenting the variety and charisma of the planet\u2019s animal species. For the Ark, sponsored by the National Geographic Society<\/a>, Sartore and his team travel the globe making stunning portraits of animals as a testament to their existence in the face of biodiversity loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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An octopus, Octopoda<\/em>, at the Dallas World Aquarium, Texas, 2013<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In late 2005<\/a>, Sartore\u2019s wife, Kathy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. He stayed home to care for her and their three children while she was sick and being treated. \u201cThat year at home gave me a new perspective on the shortness and fragility of life,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. The idea for the portrait collection, in which the beauty and vulnerability of animal life is displayed, came to him then.<\/p>\n

Kathy made a full recovery. \u201cShe\u2019s just fine to this day,\u201d Sartore tells me during a video call on a Monday in July, as coffee brews in the background. \u201cShe was the one making the coffee just now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty years after those first images, Sartore is still taking pictures, his digital Ark filling with fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals and insects. When we spoke, he had just spent the previous night and the morning photographing insects in the Minnesota Northwoods. He typically takes pictures of multiple species per day. On August 3, the National Geographic Society announced that Sartore has photographed his 18,000th species<\/a> for the Photo Ark\u2014the critically endangered red handfish<\/a>, a thumb-size animal that walks on its fins along the seafloor. Sartore visited a red handfish breeding lab and set up a photo tank on a tabletop. \u201cWe put one in our little fish tank, and it kind of walks around,\u201d he says. After getting photos with two or three fish, \u201cwe were probably done in under an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A critically endangered female red handfish, Thymichthys politus<\/em>, at the University of Tasmania\u2019s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies.<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Through his pictures, Sartore\u2019s goal is to show \u201call animals that you can see with the naked eye,\u201d he says, from tree dwellers to soil burrowers to ocean swimmers. He wants to \u201cget people to care while there\u2019s still time to save habitats and all these other species.\u201d But if the threatened creatures he photographs aren\u2019t saved, his images at least document that they were here and won\u2019t be entirely forgotten.<\/p>\n

Sartore has taken pictures of various extinct-in-the-wild species, including the Guam kingfisher<\/a> and the Monterrey platyfish<\/a>, which survive only through efforts to care for them in captivity. He even photographed a preserved young thylacine<\/a>, a long-extinct carnivorous marsupial also known as the Tasmanian tiger<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The animals he photographs are usually in human care at zoos, aquariums,\u00a0wildlife sanctuaries and science laboratories. This ensures that Sartore will have better access to the animals and that they\u2019ll be accustomed to being around people.<\/p>\n

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A springbok mantis, Miomantis caffra<\/em>, at Auckland Zoo, New Zealand, 2013<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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An African leopard, Panthera pardus pardus<\/em>, at the Houston Zoo, Texas, 2011<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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An African slender snouted crocodile, Mecistops cataphractus<\/em>, photographed in Tampa, Florida, 2012<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A ribboned pipefish, Haliichthys taeniophorus<\/em>, at the Dallas World Aquarium, Texas, 2013<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His portraits are usually set against both black and white backdrops so that he can take close-ups in good lighting and depict true color with no distractions: \u201cJust the animal, nothing else,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can look them in the eye, really see that there\u2019s great intelligence there, and a basic right to exist, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project now includes so many different types of animal life that he even photographs creatures without eyes, such as corals<\/a>, anemones<\/a> and sponges<\/a>. By taking photos of individual animals, he allows each one to shine on its own, without a size comparison. Even a tiny creature, spotlighted as the subject of one of Sartore\u2019s photos, looks significant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe photograph a lot of animals that the world would never see without this project,\u201d Sartore says. Plenty of them, he adds, \u201ccan fit in the palm of your hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A Sierra Nevada Ensatina salamander, Ensatina eschscholtzii platensis<\/em>, at San Francisco State University, California, 2008<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A female snowy owl, Bubo scandiacus<\/em>, at Raptor Recovery Nebraska, 2008<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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An endangered Coquerel’s sifaka, Propithecus coquereli, <\/em>at the Houston Zoo, Texas, 2012<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Orange spotted filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris<\/em>, at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Nebraska, 2013<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each image is a snapshot of what biodiversity looks like during our time.<\/p>\n

For instance, Sartore has worked in the Pine Rocklands<\/a>, a \u201chyper-fragmented, hyper-rare, hyper-degraded ecosystem in southeastern Florida,\u201d says ecological restoration expert George Gann<\/a>, a founder of the Institute for Regional Conservation<\/a>. Despite these challenges, the rocklands have incredible biodiversity and serve as a home for various threatened species, such as the Miami tiger beetle<\/a>, Bartram\u2019s scrub-hairstreak butterfly<\/a> and the Florida bonneted bat\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200c\ufeff\u200d\ufeff\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200c\u200d\ufeff\ufeff\u200c\ufeff\u200b\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200d\u200c\u200c\u200d\u200c\ufeff\u200c\u200d\u200d\u200c\u200c\u200d\ufeff\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200b\ufeff\u200d\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200c\ufeff\u200b\ufeff\u200c\u200d\u200b\u200c\u200c\u200d\ufeff\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200d\u200c\u200c\ufeff\u200c\u200b\u200c\ufeff\u200d\u200c\u200b\u200d\ufeff\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200d\u200c\u200c\u200d\ufeff\ufeff\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\ufeff\u200b\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200d\u200b\u200c\ufeff\u200b\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200c\u200c\u200c\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200b\ufeff\u200d\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200b\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200d\u200b\u200c\ufeff\u200c\u200b\u200c\ufeff\u200c\u200b\u200c\ufeff\u200b\u200b\u200c\ufeff\u200b\ufeff\u200b\ufeff\u200d\u200d\u200b\u200d\ufeff\ufeff\u200b\u200d\ufeff\ufeff\u200c\u200d\ufeff\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200c\u200c\u200c\ufeff\u200c\ufeff\u200c\ufeff\u200b\ufeff\u200b\u200d\ufeff\u200c\u200c\u200d\u200b\ufeff\u200c\u200d\ufeff\u200c\u200c\ufeff\u200b\ufeff\u200b\u200d\ufeff\u200d\u200c\u200d\ufeff\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200b\u200c\u200c\ufeff\u200c\u200b\u200c\u200d\u200d\u200c\u200c\u200d\ufeff\ufeff\u200c\u200d\ufeff\u200d\u200c\u200d\u200b\u200c\u200c\u200d\ufeff\u200b\u200c\u200d\u200c\ufeff\u200c\u200d\u200c\u200c\u200c\u200d\ufeff<\/a>\u2014three animals that Sartore has photographed.<\/p>\n

Sartore and the Photo Ark team identified that the tiger beetle and scrub-hairstreak butterfly needed attention. So, in 2023, they awarded<\/a> the inaugural Photo Ark Species Impact Initiative grant, an effort to fund on-the-ground conservation projects, to Gann, who has been working on restoring the area for decades.<\/p>\n

By featuring these two rockland insects, Gann says, the Photo Ark helps \u201cdraw attention to these overlooked species.\u201d<\/p>\n

That focus helps define for the public \u201cthe habitat needs of these two species to drive an ecological restoration process,\u201d Gann notes.<\/p>\n

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Joel Sartore photographs a Chinese water dragon, Physignathus cocincinus<\/em>, at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, Nebraska, in 2018.<\/p>\n

Cole Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Joel Sartore photographs Johnny the serval, Leptailurus serval<\/em>, at the Lincoln Children\u2019s Zoo, Nebraska, in 2018.<\/p>\n

Cole Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Ecuador, the Photo Ark has highlighted amphibians, many of which may be extinct in the country due to disease and habitat loss. \u201cWe didn\u2019t see them anymore since the \u201980s, despite searching for them,\u201d says amphibian biologist Luis A. Coloma<\/a>, director of Ecuador\u2019s Jambatu Center for Amphibian Research and Conservation<\/a>. The center, a 2025 Photo Ark Species Impact Initiative grantee, helps protect some of those creatures, breeding them under laboratory conditions and raising them so they can later be reintroduced to nature.<\/p>\n

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A longnose harlequin frog, Atelopus longirostris<\/em>, at Jambatu Center in Quito, Ecuador, 2019<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of those species is the longnose harlequin frog<\/a>, rediscovered<\/a> by Coloma and his team in 2016 after it was thought to be extinct. \u201cWe were so happy to find them again,\u201d Coloma says. \u201cThese are iconic animals in Ecuador. And we are trying to do our best to save these animals.\u201d Harlequin frogs come in many colors, and \u201cthey are marvelous,\u201d the biologist says. Their skin<\/a> is also full of molecules that could have \u201cpotential biomedical uses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sartore captured images of the longnose harlequin frog in January 2019, when there were only four known individuals<\/a>\u00a0in Ecuador, at the Jambatu Center. His pictures showcase the species\u2019 brown body and yellow spots<\/a>. \u201cHe has been photographing our frogs that we keep here and trying to communicate through his photos to the world about this crisis,\u201d Coloma says, \u201cwhich is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A male Arctic fox, Vulpes lagopus<\/em>, at Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo, Kansas, 2015<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A Saint Vincent parrot, Amazona guildingii<\/em>, at the Houston Zoo, Texas, 2015<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A Brazilian rainbow boa, Epicrates cenchria cenchria<\/em>, at Great Plains Zoo, South Dakota, 2007<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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An endangered baby Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus<\/em>, with her adoptive mother, a Bornean\/Sumatran cross, Pongo pygmaeus x abelii<\/em>, <\/em>at the Houston Zoo, Texas, 2013<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A Victoria crowned pigeon, Goura victoria<\/em>, at the Columbus Zoo, Ohio, 2012<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A Florida panther, Puma concolor coryi<\/em>, at Lowry Park Zoo, Florida, 2012<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes<\/em>, at Monterey Bay Aquarium, 2014<\/p>\n

Joel Sartore \/ National Geographic Photo Ark<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At age 64, Sartore\u2019s succession plan for the Photo Ark is set. His son Cole<\/a> attends the foreign trips, and \u201che\u2019ll take over when I\u2019m too old to do it anymore,\u201d Sartore says. But until then, his work continues. Many more animals await the lens of his camera\u2014about 25,000 species are in human care worldwide, and Sartore wants to photograph all of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy thing is to give my life to this,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m a photographer and a storyteller\u2014what else was I supposed to do? What else can you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sartore hopes that this big body of work will have value far beyond his time. When people view his photos, he says, \u201cthey can see what it is that\u2019s out there and decide whether or not they want to save it, because it really is a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

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