We all know that, worldwide, several thousand animal species are faced with extinction, but hardly anyone is confronted with this global problem in his or her everyday life. However, the impressive animal portraits by photographer, Tim Flach, make it impossible to ignore.

For his ‘Endangered’ photo volume, Flach has created shots of mammals, reptiles, fish and birds that are as unique as they are touching. Unlike usual wildlife photography, Flach has chosen an unusual style for this; he ‘lifts’ the animals out of their natural environment and puts them into focus as the main motifs. “The romantic, free, wild shots of animals are not necessarily what drive or encourage people to take action”, says Flach.

Rather, he decided to depict the animals with their distinctive characteristics in order to build an emotional connection to human beings. Some of the animals are shown in their natural habitat and Flach uses this to convey the following message: “There are certain species which help to cultivate the soil and the forest and those which provide fresh water. Our future depends on them”.

For two years, the British photographer was on the road to document endangered species. From now on, we will be releasing a monthly guest post written by Tim Flach based on the broncolor Calendar 2018 which provides exclusive insights into his remarkable work on the ‘Endangered’ project.

Many of us are familiar with what Beluga Caviar is, although may not be so familiar with the fish itself. With it’s wild population dwindling despite bolstering from protective legislation and captive breeding programs, the sturgeon is sinking into extinction.

This image might give the impression that it was taken in open water but it was actually residing in a tank at the Moscow Aquarium. Perhaps the sediment in the water might contribute to the illusion. Using the broncolor Move 1200 L pack with two MobiLED heads as the light source, I directed them from above, illuminating the fish, which caused some bounce back from the tank acrylic onto our subject, creating this spectral colour effect on the skin of the fish.

This was a relatively small specimen, just over a metre long, but they can grow to up to 5 metres in length in the wild. It was important for me that with the Sturgeon being one of the largest freshwater fish in the world that I conveyed a sense of scale.

On a month by month basis, I will be sharing some more of the key stories from ‘Endangered’ that were featured in the broncolor calendar. With this imagery I hope to tell the story of animals that find themselves the edge of extinction.


more of Tim Flach

Website: www.timflach.com
Instagram: @timflachphotography
Twitter: @timflach