None The Nature Conservancy in Hawaii Press Releases Search All Press Releases Grady Timmons Phone: (808) 537-4508 E-mail: gtimmons@tnc.org Florence Chong Phone: (808) 372-1405

Nature Conservancy Brings Remains of a Rainbow Touring Photo Exhibit to the Big Island

Honolulu, HI—August 28, 2003—Remains of a Rainbow, a traveling photo exhibit of Hawaii's rare and endangered plants and animals, will be on display at three different venues on the Big Island.  From September 8 until October 17 it will be displayed at the Lyman Museum in Hilo.  It will then make a brief appearance at Ka`u High School from October 19 through October 29. The Big Island tour will end at the Kahilu Theatre in Kamuela, where the photographs will be exhibited from November 1 through November 30, 2003.

This stunning collection of portraits from acclaimed wildlife photographers David Liittschwager and Susan Middleton documents the rich but imperiled tapestry of life that is native to the Hawaiian Islands.  The exhibit is sponsored by The Nature Conservancy of Hawai`i.   

In 2001, Liittschwager and Middleton released their long-awaited third book, Remains of a Rainbow: Rare Plants and Animals of Hawai`i, published by National Geographic in association with Environmental Defense.  More than 40 of the portraits from this book have been reproduced as part of the exhibit, which has been touring the state since October 2002.

"It has been our goal from the start to take a collection of portraits from the book and exhibit them in local communities throughout Hawai`i," says Middleton. "People hear about endangered species and they hear about biodiversity in the news, and somehow they are cognizant of it. But there isn't much out there that really connects people with what this is all about, which is plants and animals that are native to these islands...I think our pictures are one way people can make that emotional connection."

Photographing rare and endangered plants and animals can require a dedication that borders upon obsession.  Middleton and Liittschwager do whatever it takes, and do it so well that their photographs have become the faces of America's vanishing wildlife. 

While most wildlife photographers shoot their subjects in their natural settings, Liittschwager and Middleton create compelling portraits by isolating individual species on a black or white backdrop, illuminating their beauty, complexity and marvelous intelligence of design.  The results are inspired. Flowers burst with color; insects glow luminously; birds and fish stare back at the viewer, revealing distinct personalities.

Liittschwager and Middleton have been photographing endangered beauty for more than 15 years.   Liittschwager previously worked as a New York City fashion photographer, apprenticing under the celebrated master Richard Avedon.  He met Middleton in 1985, when she took a year off from heading the photography department at the California Academy of Sciences to coordinate an Avedon exhibit titled "In the American West." 

The meeting coincided with a request from the Nature Conservancy of California, with whom Middleton had previous dealings, to photograph a pair of endangered animals.  The project led to a larger one with the Conservancy and marked the beginning of their association.  

"We did not undertake this work to memorialize plants and animals that are destined to go extinct," says Liittschwager. "Quite the opposite. We have done it to call attention to their plight and with the hope that for most of them it is not too late."  

In addition to Remains of Rainbow, Liittschwager and Middlton are the authors of two other acclaimed books on endangered species - Here Today: Portraits of Our Vanishing Species, which focuses on California, and Witness: Endangered Species of North America.  Their work has also been the subject of an hour-long National Geographic television special.

Inter-island transportation of the exhibit has been generously donated by Aloha Airlines.