Witness [antikvár]

Foreword SUSAN MIDDLETON What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee What thou lov'st well is thy true heritage EZRA POUND, Canto Lxxxi THE PROCESSION OF 100 LIVES in the pages that follow is inspired by a desire to give endangered plants and animals a vivid presence in our human lives. As these species experience their homes, threatened ecosystems, disappearing around them, perhaps we, the human species, can understand ourselves as cause of their predicament and now their only hope. We, the photographers, offer these images as evidence of what is being sacrificed in the wake of our human transformation of the earth. It is our deep hope that if we practice love for these creatures, these kin of ours, they will remain with us as evidence of our true heritage. We turned our eyes toward animals and plants, members of species with million-year histories, which may be the last of their kind. We looked, watched, and observed closely as we searched for the images we wanted. Each plant and animal is isolated. All other picture elements are removed to convey the beauty and uniqueness of each individual. We want the creatures to evoke a response in you who see them, that an intimate direct encounter might occur between you, the viewer, and the lives in these pictures as it did for us in our encounters with them in the photographic process. The absence of context, or any trace of habitat, bespeaks the precarious state of the species' homes. They are exposed and vulnerable as their habitats, the ecosystems to which they belong, are diminishing. Besides attending to the individuals of a single species, we recognize the need to sustain their ecosystems. Yet we acknowledge the limits of photography to convey a whole ecosystem in a single photograph. So the emphasis of these photographs is on the wonder of an individual life. Profiles of the species are presented in the final section of the book. Here their habits and habitats, as well as the reasons for their decline and the steps taken to protect them, are described. We feel that an emotional connection to these animals and plants, most of which people will never have an opportunity to see, will increase the capacity for a wider perception of the diversity of life. These species represent more than themselves and indicate a malaise that extends beyond them. They are the ones we can see; because of them we know there are many imperiled species that we cannot see. They stand for the over 800 North American plants and animals that are officially recognized as endangered, and which in turn point to the countless threatened species that have not made it through the federal bureau-