Mountain Gorillas… and People

Understanding the Connections and Why They Matter

Photographer

Gene Eckhart

Concept

This project is designed primarily to promote mountain gorilla conservation, to educate lay people (in Africa and around the world), and to influence policy in a meaningful way, both on the ground in central African and in donor countries around the world. This will be done by using photography, information and exhibition as tools that can educate broader lay audiences in ways that traditional scientific materials and publications often don’t, and in avenues and venues where images and information important to understanding the issues are not generally accessible to the larger lay communities. Mountain Gorilla conservation is a text book example of how the existence of humans in, or on the edge of sensitive animal habitat impacts both humans and critically endangered species. This program highlights the need for comprehensive approaches, and cross disciplinary conservation planning and management practices that include social justice for the people involved in order to make them ultimately sustainable.

Biography

Gene Eckhart is a free lance photographer and writer currently living in the United States. He has worked throughout the world with the primary focus of his field work being environmental and cultural studies, the documentation of these remote areas, the people and the animals that inhabit them. His intent is to use the power of photography and information to influence how people think in order to inspire others and affect meaningful change. His focus for the last five years has been on understanding the linkages\interplay between mountain gorillas and people, and promoting a broader understanding of why they matter.

www.geneeckhart.com

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