Rajan the Swimming Elephant. Rajan, a 66-year-old Asian elephant swimming in the Indian Ocean. Rajan was taken to the the Andaman Islands for logging in the 1950s, according to photographer Jody MacDonald. After logging was banned, Rajan continued to live there, "sunbathing on the beach, swimming in the ocean and foraging in the forest," until his death until 2016. Photo Credit: Jody MacDonald
Environment The WorldBig Photography Auction Will Help Fund Conservation Efforts
A collection of powerful captured moments from 100 photographers will be sold at the end of 2022 to raise funds aimed at financing conservation organizations and amplifying the useful work these artists do.
“I worked really hard when I was curating this to make sure that these photographers are diverse, but the one thing they all share is this commitment to the planet,” says Ami Vitale, award-winning photographer and co-founder of Vital Impacts, the non-profit responsible for the fundraising. “They’re using their art to help conservation.”
Out of all the proceeds made, 60% will go to four organizations dedicated to wildlife or habitat protection: Big Life Foundation, Great Plains Foundation’s Project Ranger, Jane Goodall Institute’s Roots & Shoots program, and SeaLegacy. The remaining 40% will fund the photographers’ work so they continue to make a difference. Among the photographs to be auctioned, there is Jane Goodall’s self-portrait she took in 1962, and Ami Vitale’s “Goodbye Sudan”, the photograph of the dying moments of the last male northern white rhino being comforted by one of its caretakers. In order to make the print sale carbon-neutral, trees will be planted for every print made.
