Cherry Kearton and the Birth of Wildlife Documentary

WITH NATURE AND A CAMERA

Created by Evie Bulmer
Curated by Fergus Wiltshire

Photography Exhibition

14th - 20th December 2021

at The Royal Geographical Society

The exhibition is free to attend with no booking required

View opening times

About

Cherry Kearton was an early pioneer of nature film photography and documentary film. Born in 1871 in Thwaite, Yorkshire Kearton travelled the world becoming one of the foremost chroniclers of natural history subjects. Cherry specialised in animal photography, taking the first ever photograph of a bird's nest with eggs (1892) and later the first pictures ever taken of lions in their native haunts (1909).

He has been cited by Sir David Attenborough as an influential character in his own journey to becoming a wildlife documentarian.

This exhibition will be the first of its kind, exhibiting breathtaking photos of the early 1900s which have been developed from the original glass film slides. Limited edition prints shall be sold in order to raise money for Fauna & Flora International to help protect what precious wildlife we have left.

Cherry Kearton wrote in 1904 that we must:

“remember that to help in the least degree to accomplish the extinction of anything beautiful and interesting is a crime against future generations…”

Aim

This will be a charitable exhibition with 100% of the profits from print sales to be donated to Fauna & Flora International (FFI).

Established over a century ago, FFI is the world’s oldest international wildlife conservation organisation which has been shaping and influencing conservation practice since its foundation in 1903. Their focus is on protecting biodiversity, which underpins healthy ecosystems and is critical for the life-support systems that humans and all other species rely on.

FFI's mission is to conserve threatened species and ecosystems worldwide. This exhibition's mission is to raise as many funds as possible to support FFI's incredible work.