CULTURE
wild
totally
WORDS INGRID NELSON PHOTOS SARAH ASH
Did you know there are around 96 * critically endangered species in Australia? I didn’t, until I met Sarah Ash, a wildlife conservationist and photographer who is on a mission to educate future generations and raise awareness and money to conserve these precious animals through her exciting project, wild_.
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adly, we have one of the highest mammal extinction rates in the world, in Australia,” says Sarah, while showing me an image of the most beautiful little critter called the Mountain Pygmy Possum, of which there are only around 2000 left in the wild. Australia’s only hibernating marsupial, they are considered critically endangered. “Their habitat is really delicate and there are many more adorable little creatures just like this one who are in danger,” she says. “I attended the Devil Ark (an animal preservation project) gala dinner in Sydney recently and the first threatened species commissioner spoke. He played a frog call over his phone and said, ‘This is the only way you can hear this species of frog call now because it no longer exists’. It really hit home.”
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MOUNTAIN PYGMY POSSUM
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Black and white FACTS often don’t stick as well as they should, so I thought bringing these CREATURES to life would have more of an IMPACT.”
With a background in environmental management, photography and music, Sarah has combined all of her passions to bring these endangered species to the attention of the public through a mix of beautiful imagery, photography, videography and music.
“I was studying photography at TAFE and found a niche in doing portraits of people on a plain black background so the focus was completely on the subject,” says Sarah. “I also worked in environmental management, so when I came across several species I had never heard of before that were threatened and at the risk of extinction, I did a bit more research into it and I was quite gobsmacked at the extent of how bad it was. “It all progressed from there really. I started thinking about how I could combine my love of animals and my creative skills to raise awareness. Black and white facts often don’t stick as well as they should, so I thought bringing these creatures to life would have more of an impact.” Sarah began taking photos of the endangered species she came across using the same striking technique she had developed for her portraits, which progressed to the production of short videos set to music she had composed herself as well as tracks by unsigned Aboriginal artists. Each visual pictorial has detailed information about the status quo of the species to educate the public. “I am always working on it. I go to bed with ideas and I wake up with ideas. I do profilemag.com.au