It took twelve years to photograph more than 7,400 species in captivity, in over 300 zoos all over the world.  Joel Sartore, the great National Geographic photographer, continues to work on this project as part of his battle, which springs from “a desperation to halt, or at least slow, the loss of global biodiversity”.

A selection of these breathtaking shots is now on display in an exhibition which Elastica has organised for National Geographic and the Gruppo Gedi, at the Auditorium of Parco della Musica in Rome from 8 December to 22 April 2018.

We’d like to highlight a fact: according to the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the current extinction rate is a thousand times higher than the natural one. Tigers, elephants and other mammals are endangered species.  Some of them are on display at the exhibition in Rome, with a fun section where you can try out augmented reality.

Elastica planned the exhibition arc, as well as every aspect of production, alongside curator Marco Cattaneo, the director of National Geographic Italia. An app was also specially designed to allow the public to meet over 500 species at risk, in a smart and interactive format. 

The show took inspiration from Joel Sartore’s photographic work and publications in the weekly La Repubblica segment, “Animals Worth Saving.”