Images by Piotr Naskrecki

Piotr Naskrecki

TREES Talk
Wednesday, June 10th, 2015, at 7:30 pm
Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902

TREES Exhibition: The Smaller Majority
In the Trees on the Downtown Mall,  May 15 - July 9
(Historic center of Charlottesville) 

LOOK3 is delighted to welcome Piotr Naskrecki as the 2015 TREES Artist. Piotr is a photographer and entomologist based at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. 

Piotr's field research on insects has taken him to six continents, where he strives to promote understanding, appreciation, and conservation of invertebrates and other “non-charismatic” animals. Through photography, he aspires to capture both their beauty and their roles as critically important members of the Earth’s ecosystems. He is one of the founding members of the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) and his work been published in The Smithsonian Magazine, Natural History, National Wildlife, National Geographic, and BBC Wildlife Magazine. His books illustrate the multitude of threats faced by invertebrate animals (The Smaller Majority), explore ancient organisms and ecosystems of the globe (Relics), and his most recent title with E.O. Wilson, A Window on Eternity, documents the efforts to restore the diverse ecosystems of Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Piotr’s photography has been exhibited in American Museum of Natural History, New York; The Natural Museum, London; Harvard Museum of Natural History; and Aquamarine Fukushima (Japan). 

Piotr received his PhD in Entomology at the University of Connecticut. He currently directs the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique where he trains Mozambican biologists and conservationists, and helps rebuild the park, which suffered during the recent civil war.

The 2015 Festival is curated by Kathy Ryan, Director of Photography at The New York Times Magazine and Scott Thode, independent curator. 

TREES Exhibition 2015: The Smaller Majority

When we think of “wildlife,” spiders and grasshoppers are not the animals that usually come to mind, but the great majority of life consists of organisms smaller than a human finger, and they make our planet habitable. As humans, our gargantuan size, matched only by a minute percentage of animal species, often leads us to overlook the importance, complexity, and beauty of the rest of the living world.

This idea, that wildlife is more than a handful of “charismatic mammals,” has been the driving force in Piotr Naskrecki’s work as both a biologist and a nature photographer. He has travelled far and wide to study and document the smaller, generally underappreciated animals, often being the first person to photograph them in their natural environment. On many occasions, he was the first person to ever see them, as some of his subjects turned out to be species that were new to science.

About the Annual TREES Events

The annual TREES exhibition is a hallmark of LOOK3, celebrating the natural world while it promotes environmental awareness and conservation. Each year, the TREES show transforms Charlottesville's historic center into an immersive cultural space. Featuring leading national conservation photographers the large-scale TREES photos are exhibited in the trees that line the pedestrian corridor. 

The TREES Talk, given by the TREES artist, is an insightful, conservation-oriented presentation that takes place in the historic Paramount Theater. From the secret mating rituals of birds to the fascinating habits of the rarest species on earth, TREES talks are thrilling adventures that take us into the heart of our natural world. LOOK3 wishes to acknowledge the long-term support of Darlene and Jeffrey Anderson who helped to realize the TREES events in the very beginning and have supported them ever since. Thank you.