--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: David had been photographing endangered…" description: "\"“David had been photographing endangered species in the Hawaiian rainforest and elsewhere for years, and his collections of photographs and Suzie's tar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe9/rebecca-solnit-569_animals_david-had-been-photographing-endangered_2219502.png" --- # 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…” quote by Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe9/rebecca-solnit-569_animals_david-had-been-photographing-endangered_2219502.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe9/rebecca-solnit-569_animals_david-had-been-photographing-endangered_2219502.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe9/rebecca-solnit-569_animals_david-had-been-photographing-endangered_2219502.png) > ““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.”” [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## 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. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) [Card Deck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/card-deck-2904217/) [Cards Flora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cards-flora-4948287/) [Endangered species](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endangered-species/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Flora and fauna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flora-and-fauna/) [Gardening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gardening/) [Habitat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habitat/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Plants and animals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plants-and-animals/) [Suzie Tarot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suzie-tarot-4948286/) [Tarot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tarot/) [Tarot cards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tarot-cards/) ## Related quotes > [Both the five-year-olds looked at me with bewilderment and a bit of fearful uncertainty. 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It’s for all of us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/marriage-equality-is-a-threat-to-inequality-it-s-a-boon-to-everyone/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“Mountaineering is always spoken of as though summiting is conquest, but as you get higher, the world gets bigger, and you feel smaller in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/mountaineering-is-always-spoken-of-as-though-summiting-is-conquest/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“A procession is a participants' journey, while a parade is a performance with an audience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/a-procession-is-a-participants-journey-while-a-parade-is-a/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Explore all 469 Rebecca Solnit quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) ## More Animals quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? 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I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) [Browse all 6,813 Animals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animals/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“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. 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