The Photo Ark

For nearly three decades, photographer Joel Sartore has traveled the globe for magazine. His toughest assignment, however, wasn’t in the wild. In 2005, Joel’s wife, Kathy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. He stopped working for a year to take care of her and their three kids. Once Kathy recovered, Joel embarked on a new project: The National Geographic Photo Ark, a photographic archive of 12,000-plus animal species currently in human care. So far he has captured images of 9,000 species, mostly in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries. The purpose, Joel says, is to raise awareness of the beauty, diversity and value of animal life,