Seeing Eye-to-Eye

An eye-catching outdoor exhibition opens at Bristol Zoo Gardens this month which turns the camera on some of the world’s most critically endangered species. ‘Eye Contact’ is a stunning collection of wildlife images captured by internationally renowned and award winning wildlife photographers Mark Carwardine and Malcolm Schuyl.

This striking collection of 40 close-up images, displayed against the backdrop of the beautiful Bristol Zoo Gardens, celebrates some of their most popular, appealing and charismatic animals – as well as a few that visitors may have missed. From pythons and penguins to piranhas and pelicans - the exhibition focuses on that most extraordinary and evocative of facial features: the eye. Sometimes magnetic, often mesmerising, but always alluring.

Mark Carwardine says: “As we all know, much of the world's wildlife is under threat. Having travelled to more than 100 countries across all seven continents, I've seen first-hand what is happening - and it's really frightening. Incredibly, about half of the 40 species we photographed at Bristol Zoo are either endangered or vulnerable, so we hope the 'Eye Contact' exhibition will demonstrate just how much we have to lose.”

Eyes are essentially organs that detect light, providing a constant supply of information to the brain about the environment around us. Eyes vary enormously throughout the animal kingdom - from the simplest that can only differentiate between light and dark (such as the Giant African snail), to highly complex organs that can distinguish 3-dimensional shapes and colours, or those that are adapted to highly specialised functions such as night or underwater vision (such as those of the Eurasian Eagle Owl and the Dwarf Crocodile). Combining larger than life-sized images and fascinating insights into the world of each of the featured species, ‘Eye Contact’ is a unique opportunity to get up close to some of the most threatened animals on our planet.

Dr Jo Gipps, Director of Bristol Zoo Gardens, emphasises: “As a conservation and education charity, we are passionate about the need to raise public awareness of the fragility of the animal kingdom. We hope that visitors will leave the Zoo with a greater understanding of the challenges these animals face in the wild and a renewed commitment to ensure that these species have a future beyond being simply pictures in an exhibition.”