I M A G E S
M A T T E R
begins at home
Biodiversity
Whether it’s for public outreach, reporting and accountability, site documentation or evidence gathering, professional imagery is the key element in your communications effort. Today it’s pictures, not words, that get your message heard. And the better the pictures, the clearer it is.
Naturpark Kaunergrat Ă–sterreich
Meet Your Neighbours impresses.
This doesn’t.
= solution Meet Your Neighbours is a worldwide network of specialised photographers documenting biodiversity against pure white backgrounds, in the field. Working with a MYN photographer provides your programme or expedition with the sort of professional imagery expected by the public and appreciated by funders. World class research deserves world class visual support and the field studio technique used by MYN photographers is the best way to provide this.
the
mechanism
• Contact us with the details of your programme and image/ design requirements. • MYN will cooperate with writing the visual resources part of your funding application for the programme if in-house funding for hiring MYN input is unavailable. • If bid is successful, MYN will appoint a photographer and create the contract.
case
studies
National Geographic Explorer, Dr Neil Losin and fellow biologist, Dr Nate Dappen travelled to the Spanish islands of Ibiza and Formentera to document the astonishing, diversity of colours in the endemic Ibiza wall lizard (Podarcis pityusensis) in 2012.
“We decided we needed a standardized approach to document this diversity, so we adopted the white-background “Meet Your Neighbours” style of photography. We had research permits that allowed us to capture a couple of lizards from each island population and hold them long enough to photograph them in the Meet Your Neighbours “field studio” before releasing them at their site of capture. I think these simple studio portraits do a great job demonstrating the population differences in color!” Dr Neil Losin.
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studies
Co-founder of Meet Your Neighbours, Niall Benvie, was one of the 69 photographers contributing to the world’s largest photographic project, Wild Wonders of Europe, and was hired to produce field studio images for the project’s flagship book.
“Early on in the Wild Wonders project, we recognised the versatility of field studio images, not only in a design sense but in how they presented subjects in a fresh and exciting way - one that showed them off as fascinating individuals rather than simply members of a species or ecosystem. During my work for Wild Wonders in Spain, the UK, France and Austria, I saw how people with no previous interest in obscure invertebrates became fascinated by them when they saw the image magnified on the back of the camera. During the expeditions, the technique allowed me to work quickly to document a wide variety of species, all in the field.” Niall Benvie.
case
studies
In October 2012, Dutch biologist and photographer, Joris van Alphen, joined an international team of over 40 scientists surveying the biodiversity of the Kinabalu - Crocker Range in Borneo, picturing many species for the first time. The story subsequently appeared in February 2013 in the Dutch edition of National Geographic and the images act as a valuable visual reference of the expedition’s work.
“As a photojournalist my job was to tell the expedition’s scientific story. I knew that it would be crucial to capture both the extraordinary richness and the mysterious peculiarity of the life forms that inhabit Mount Kinabalu. It is this overwhelming complexity that makes the tropical forest so appealing, yet at the same time it makes it notoriously difficult to photograph well. The Meet Your Neighbours field studio proved to be the perfect solution. Isolating subjects on a clean white background draws attention to their distinct features and gives them personality. A double-page spread portraying 30 species this way provided a powerful illustration of Kinabalu’s biodiversity.” Joris van Alphen.
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studies
Meet Your Neighbours co-founder, Clay Bolt, joined other members of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a team of recorders on a National Geographic BioBlitz of the Rocky Mountain National Park, CO, in May 2012.
“The Meet Your Neighbours field-studio style of photography was ideal for beautifully and accurately documenting the species that were discovered during National Geographic’s BioBlitz in Rocky Mountain National Park. The MYN team was able to quickly move from site-to-site, while working alongside scientists and participants to photograph everything from small aquatic organisms to larger species such as the Plateau Fence Lizard (Sceloporus tristichus, far left); now the first and only documented lizard in RMNP!” Clay Bolt.
partnership Meet Your Neighbours’ outputs appear on the National Geographic’s Geostories site. This gives visitors the opportunity to learn about the work MYN photographers are doing, linked to interactive maps. Several of the MYN contributors are part of the International League of Conservation Photographers, and are therefore experienced at working alongside scientists to provide outstanding communications material. Since the founding of Meet Your Neighbours, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland has been a supporter in practical and advisory capacities. It sees MYN’s work as part of its greater vision of effective public outreach. Meet Your Neighbours, in partnership with the Highlands Biological Foundation, N.C., has developed an educational programme for children called Backyard Naturalists that has run events in the US, Spain and Australia.
Outdoor exhibit at Highlands Biological Station, North Carolina.
We have the vision. But we are also good at listening. At understanding your mission. And figuring out how Meet Your Neighbours can contribute .
“
Through stunning imagery of lesser appreciated organisms, Meet Your Neighbours photographs help to emphasize the importance of biodiversity at all levels and reinforces our mission to foster research and education focused on the rich natural heritage and biodiversity of this area.� Sonya Carpenter, Highlands Biological Foundation, North Carolina.
Contact Clay Bolt (The Americas, Pacific and Australasia) e: clay.meetyourneighbours@gmail.com t: 1.864.385.4616 Skype: claybolt Niall Benvie (Europe, Africa and Asia) e: niall@niallbenvie.com t: +44 1356 626 768 Skype: niallbenvie
www.meetyourneighbours.net