Joel Sartore's Photo Ark Hits 18,567 Species Documented

Joel Sartore's Photo Ark has reached 18,567 documented species, twenty years into a project targeting portraits of more than 25,000. Every subject, regardless of size, is photographed against a plain black or white background in controlled settings: zoos, aquariums, and wildlife sanctuaries. The 2023 Photo Ark Species Impact Initiative added a grants program supporting conservationists directly, and National Geographic distributes the work through classroom curricula, publications, and broadcasts.