VANISHING POLLINATORS

Vanishing Pollinators A synthesis of art and science; a visual statement about man’s interaction with the environment and a bold reminder of a world we rely upon but often neglect.

Imagine living in a world without bees – a world without apples, apple pie or a cup of coffee to wash it down with. Bees and other pollinators enable many plants to reproduce and give us a variety of the foods we eat every day. If animal pollinators disappeared, a vital link in our life support system would also disappear. Today there is a global threat to many of the creatures that provide this indispensable service to our ecosystem. Vanishing Pollinators is an educational art exhibit that alerts us to a worldwide decline in pollinator populations. This portfolio of 34 stunning color photographs portrays the beauty and grace of flowering plants and their threatened insect pollinators in an attempt to unite the energy of one of nature’s most important biological systems with the power of visual art. For this exhibition, biologist and photographer Carll Goodpasture uses his camera an a hand lens to explore the intricate world of pollinators, bringing to life the hidden relationship between plants and the animals they rely on for reproduction. In the process, he also sheds light on the role humans play in this relationship. This exhibit, which was shown to great popular acclaim at the Oslo Botanical Garden, is a remarkable metaphor for the current situation facing all of mankind; a fine ecological distinction between the small, seemingly unimportant life that runs the planet, and the great, seemingly all important life that appears to threaten it.

Eric Grissell, Ph.D. Author of Insects and Gardens
– In Pursuit of a Garden Ecology I believe that visual art can help us perceive and understand the natural world. My artistic intent in the Vanishing Pollinators portfolio is to raise public awareness of a critical environmental issue and to give substance to my concern for vanishing nature consciousness.
Carll Goodpasture, Ph.D. Biologist and Photographer