David had been photographing endangered species in the…
““David had been photographing endangered species in the Hawaiian rainforest and elsewhere for years, and his collections of photographs and Suzie's tarot cards seemed somehow related. Because species disappear when their habitat does, he photographed them against the nowhere of a black backdrop (which sometimes meant propping up a black velvet cloth in the most unlikely places and discouraging climates), and so each creature, each plant, stood as though for a formal portrait alone against the darkness. The photographs looked like cards too, card from the deck of the world in which each creature describes a history, a way of being in the world, a set of possibilities, a deck from which cards are being thrown away, one after another. Plants and animals are a language, even in our reduced, domesticated English, where children grow like weeds or come out smelling like roses, the market is made up of bulls and bears, politics of hawks and doves. Like cards, flora and fauna could be read again and again, not only alone but in combination, in the endlessly shifting combinations of a nature that tells its own stories and colors ours, a nature we are losing without even knowing the extent of that loss.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Photographing endangered species against a void highlights their fragility and the loss of biodiversity as a cultural narrative.
In simple terms: Portraits of species reveal ecological loss and cultural meaning.
Key Takeaway
Use art to draw attention to environmental decline.
Themes
environment
art
loss
language
storytelling
Mood
somber
reflective
Type
inspirational
critical
When to use this quote
- gallery exhibitions
- environmental education
- policy advocacy
- community workshops
Key Concepts
ecology
visual metaphor
cultural narrative
Questions to Reflect On
- What stories do these silent portraits tell?
- How can we translate ecological loss into collective action?
A Different Perspective
Art may not reach those disengaged from environmental issues.