Renowned photographer Andrew Zuckerman and scientist Auguste von Bayern explore the power of art and science in fostering emotional connections to nature and inspiring environmental action.
“One thing I think we’ve learned from animals is that we’ve been very arrogant in assuming that there’s this sharp line dividing us from the rest of the animal kingdom”, Zuckerman says in his opening presentation.
He explains his process of creating large-scale, highly detailed images of plants and animals, from insects to elephants. Zuckerman illustrates the technical challenges involved in capturing and compositing hundreds of photographs to achieve a sense of immediacy and emotional connection.
“Photography has this unique ability to stop time so that we can see”, he says. “In looking across a typology, we notice the subtle striking differences in color and form and structure. Yet beyond these differences, there’s a profound commonality, a thread shared across, a sense of life that connects them all.”
Auguste von Bayern, who studies animal cognition at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, provides scientific context for the photographer’s artistic approach, noting how her research with parrots and crows has shown these species to have cognitive abilities on par with great apes.
“It should make us reconsider”, she says. “We are part of nature. We are not above nature.”
Watch the video to hear more and learn about Andrew Zuckerman’s vision for United Nature, a touring museum experience designed to create moments of awe that can open minds and inspire action.
