Ark

Featuring more than 600 awe-inspiring images curated by Stephen Ellcock, Ark is a celebration of the living wonders of this planet. In this remarkable volume, Stephen Ellcock presents a vast treasury of diverse images from all five kingdoms of nature – from microscopic wonders and interconnected fungi to healing plants and the multitude of miraculous animal species that share our world. Together, illuminating captions, eye-opening essays by experts and extraordinary images present an optimistic vision of abundance, beauty and utility – a living world that we have the power to protect. The book begins with foreword by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane on the interconnection of nature. An essay by best-selling author Sarah Perry discusses the concept of the ark and the story of the flood. Stephen Ellcock then presents his curation of the myriad forms of life depicted by humanity throughout history. Quotations by artists, scientists and ecologists punctuate the pages, enlightening captions reflect on the artistry and the special qualities of specific species, and symbols highlight which of the species pictured are at risk of extinction. Set among the curated images are three essays by celebrated nature writers: Harriet Rix, Helen Scales and Stephen Moss. Each writer guides readers through some of the intricate, life-sustaining relationships that populate nature’s elemental realms of earth, water and air and outlines some of the threats that climate change and human actions pose.