Prints for Nature: A Campaign for Our Planet

I am honored to share with you the Prints for Nature sale featuring more than 85 of the world’s finest photographers working to protect people, wildlife and the environment, including 33 members of The Photo Society. This is a chance to collect some of the most inspiring photography out there and support tremendous conservation work.

Nature has sent us a strong message and reminded us of just how small and deeply interconnected our world is. It is a powerful moment to reimagine our relationship to nature and to one other. We need to take care of this planet and to protect existing habitats. Today, nearly 1 million species are in danger of extinction. Our own health and destiny are intricately connected to the natural world and impacted by the loss of species. When we see ourselves as part of the landscape and part of nature, then we recognize that saving nature is really about saving ourselves.

For many of us, these are times of uncertainty and it can be difficult to see the way forward. In the midst of all these uncertainties, there is one conviction that I remain certain of:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”-Margaret Meade
 
This project is rooted in the idea of how much stronger we are all when we work together. This idea would have remained only an idea without the thoughtful expertise of Eileen Mignoni. Eileen has been a constant source of wisdom, passion and talent for more than a decade. 

The prints will be expertly crafted by the fine art studio of Paper & Ink with Canon’s Lucia Pro archival pigment ink on Canson Infinity Edition Etching Rag 100% cotton archival rag paper. All prints are available for $250 plus shipping. Print prices rise to $275 after Black Friday (Nov. 27).  

100% of net proceeds will support core Conservation International initiatives. I selected Conservation International because  I have seen their work on the ground and the transformations they have championed for our planet. These funds get to hundreds of grassroots organizations and the reach is profound. Virtually all of their field programs are run by in-country nationals and they actively partner with local communities and indigenous people in the design and implementation of their work. Conservation International is also able to leverage limited philanthropic funding to unlock public funding to scale their work. Their work spans across four continents from grasslands to cloud forests to rainforests to coral reefs.

Michael Yamashita
Photo by Joel Sartore: A critically endangered sumatran orangutan, Pongo abelii, at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, TX. BIO: Joel Sartore is a photographer, speaker, author, teacher, conservationist, National Geographic Fellow, and a regular contributor to National Geographic Magazine. His hallmarks are a sense of humor and a Midwestern work ethic. Joel specializes in documenting endangered species and landscapes in order to show a world worth saving. He is the founder of The Photo Ark, a multi-year documentary project to save species and habitat. Joel has written several books including RARE: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species, Photographing Your Family, Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky, Let’s Be Reasonable, The Photo Ark and Birds of the Photo Ark. His most recent book, Vanishing is now available wherever books are sold. In addition to the work he has done for National Geographic, Joel has contributed to Audubon Magazine, Time, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and numerous book projects. Joel and his work are the subjects of several national broadcasts including National Geographic’s Explorer, the NBC Nightly News, NPR’s Weekend Edition, an hour-long PBS documentary, At Close Range, and a contributor on the CBS Sunday Morning Show. He is also featured in a three part series on PBS titled: RARE: Creatures of the Photo Ark. Joel is always happy to return to home base from his travels around the world. He lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife Kathy and their three children. WEBSITE: joelsartore.com INSTAGRAM: @joelsartore
Steve Winter
Randy Olson
Photo by Annie Griffiths: A lone cheetah pauses to listen as it hunts antelope in the Serengeti plains of Tanzania. BIO: One of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic, Annie Griffiths has photographed in nearly 150 countries during her illustrious career. She has worked on dozens of magazine and book projects for National Geographic, including stories on Lawrence of Arabia, Galilee, Petra, Sydney, and Jerusalem. In addition to her magazine work, Griffiths is deeply committed to photographing for aid organizations around the world. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Ripple Effect Images, a collective of photographers who document aid programs that are empowering women and girls in the developing world. In just six years, Ripple’s work has helped 26 non-profits raise over ten million dollars. WEBSITE: anniegriffiths.com INSTAGRAM: @anniegriffithsphotography
Photo by David Littschwager: Common Octopus, Scientific Name: Octopus vulgaris, Size: 3.5 inches mantle length, February 4, 2015, Big Pine Key, Florida. BIO: David Liittschwager is a freelance photographer who, after working with Richard Avedon in New York in the eighties, left advertising to focus on portraiture and natural history. Now a regular contributor to National Geographic Liittschwager has produced a number of books. Among his many honors is a World Press Photo Award in 2008 for his article “Marine Microfauna” in National Geographic. WEBSITE: liittschwager.com INSTAGRAM: @davidliittschwager
Photo by Ami Vitale: An orphaned reticulated giraffe nuzzles Sarara Camp wildlife keeper Lekupania. This giraffe was rehabilitated and returned to the wild, as a number of others have done before him. Right now, giraffe are undergoing what has been referred to as a silent extinction. Current estimates are that giraffe populations across Africa have dropped 40 percent in three decades, plummeting from approximately 155,000 in the late 1980s to under 100,000 today. The decline is thought to be caused to habitat loss and fragmentation and poaching, but because there haven’t been long term conservation efforts in the past, it’s hard to know exactly what is happening. Reticulated giraffe themselves number fewer than 16,000 individuals. Scientists are now undertaking major studies to better understand why giraffe are disappearing and what can be done to stop it. BIO: Nikon Ambassador and National Geographic Magazine photographer Ami Vitale has traveled to more than 100 countries, bearing witness not only to violence and conflict, but also to surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit. Throughout the years, Ami has lived in mud huts and war zones, contracted malaria, and donned a panda suit— keeping true to her belief in the importance of “living the story.” In 2009, after shooting a powerful story on the transport and release of one the world’s last northern white rhinos, Ami shifted her focus to today’s most compelling wildlife and environmental stories. She is a five-time recipient of World Press Photos, including 1st Prize for her 2018 National Geographic magazine story about a community in Kenya protecting elephants. She published a best-selling book, Panda Love, on the secret lives of pandas. WEBSITE: amivitale.com INSTAGRAM: @amivitale
Photo by Melissa Farlow: An illusive band of wild horses roam under a full moon in the American West. It’s believed that horses evolved in North America, then disappeared 12 million years ago following a catastrophic event. Spanish Conquistadors reintroduced them in the 1500s and contemporary herds consist mainly of the descendants of horses. In Native Lakota and Sioux lore, a long relationship with horses predates these Spanish steeds. The horse vanished for only the blink of an eye in geologic time. Horse remains unearthed in current North American archaeological digs lie near the bones of wooly mammoths. Horses roamed the prairie with mastodons, the saber-tooth tiger and the American camel. This brave, intrepid beast is the only one of five species to have survived. If the modern horse’s ancestors grazed in ancient North America, herds should claim a rightful place as a native species—rather than feral pests—giving them greater protection under the law. In 1900, two million wild horses roamed the largely unfenced American West. Expanding human populations squeezed them onto public lands. A 1971 act of Congress saved the horses from inhumane treatment and slaughter after Velma Johnston, known as “Wild Horse Annie,” organized children to write letters and lobby Congress. Under pressure, Congress set aside land specifically for horses, and charged the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to care for them. BIO: Melissa Farlow is a freelance photographer who has extensively worked for National Geographic magazine photographing over 20 projects-many in the American West for stories on public lands, environmental issues and wild horses. Awarded a Pulitzer Prize while on the staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal, Farlow received a National Headliner Award as well as Pictures of the Year portfolio honors while at the Pittsburgh Press. WEBSITE: olsonfarlow.com/portfolio/melissa-farlow INSTAGRAM: @melissafarlow

About the author

RANDY OLSON’s 27 National Geographic magazine projects have taken him to many countries in Africa, the Siberian Arctic, Abu Dhabi, American Samoa, Austria, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Dubai, Guyana, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Japan, Kamchatka, Newfoundland, Pakistan, Palmyra, Republic of Georgia, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, and the South Pacific.
National Geographic Society published a book of his work in their Masters of Photography series in January 2011. Olson was the 2003 Magazine Photographer of the Year in the Pictures of the Year International (POYi) competition, and was also awarded POYi’s 1992 Newspaper Photographer of the Year—one of only two photographers to win in both media in the largest photojournalism contest operating continuously since World War II. While working at The Pittsburgh Press, Olson received an Alicia Patterson Fellowship to support a seven-year project documenting a family with AIDS, and a Robert F. Kennedy Award for his story on problems with Section 8 housing. He was also awarded the Nikon Sabbatical and a grant from the National Archives to save the Pictures of the Year collection.
Melissa Farlow and Randy Olson are photojournalists in the documentary tradition. Their work has taken them to 50 countries over the past 20 years. Even though they are published in LIFE, GEO, Smithsonian and other magazines, they have primarily worked on 50 projects for the National Geographic Society. They normally work individually, but have co-produced National Geographic magazine stories on northern California, American national parks, and the Alps. They photographed the southern United States for a book by Collins Publishing and have collaborated on over 70 books by various publishers.