[1] The Photo Ark project, led by Joel Sartore in association with National Geographic, has the goal of inspiring action through education, and to help save wildlife by supporting conservation efforts.

So he realized that maybe "very simple portraits lit exquisitely so you can see the beauty and the color, looking animals directly in the eye with no distractions, would be the way to do it.

[11] In a February 2018 interview, Rare director Chun-Wei Yi said that he met Sartore at National Geographic Television & Film, in 2006 or 2007, soon after he started the Photo Ark.

[11] In February 2019, it was announced that National Geographic and WGBH-Boston had joined forces to produce a "two-hour event special" about The Photo Ark, which would air on October 17, 2020.

[26][27][28][needs update] To spread awareness of this project, a selection of photographs from The Photo Ark has been exhibited in various museums, zoos, and exhibition halls around the world,[29] including the following locations: In February 2018, RARE: Creatures of The Photo Ark was awarded Best Conservation Film at the New York WILD Film Festival, held at The Explorers Club in Manhattan.

The article says that "Sartore more than succeeds in his goal to provide people with an opportunity to become aware of these animals, many endangered, before they disappear.

The first batch appears in The Photo Ark, and its assortment of creatures is fascinating... [The book] will change the way you think of turning a field or forest into the next mall or housing development.