Photography: Flamingo

The summer rains create fresh water deposits which attract these Lesser Flamingos, creating this surreal landscape. Flamingos absolutely love to bathe in fresh water. During the course of my 36 hour Day To Night shoot I had a front row seat to this extraordinary spectacle at Lake Bogoria in Kenya, Africa. The effects of climate change are what brought me to Lake Bogoria, as I had originally planned to photograph Flamingos in Rio Lagartos, in the Yucatan Peninsula. Unfortunately this last year was the first time ever that these Lesser Flamingos didn’t nest in their usual nesting areas in the Yucatan. My “Day to Night” exhibition at The National Geographic Museum, features a whole empty wall dedicated to just that, with just the text, “the picture that never happened”. I’m thankful that the Nat Geo Museum has focused attention, and continues to raise awareness to the dramatic effects of climate change. My story “The Journeys of Migratory Birds” is out now in the March issue of National Geographic magazine. This photograph and more will be on display at my exhibition “Transcend the Passage of Time in ‘Day to Night: In the Field with Stephen Wilkes” at National Geographic Museum in Washington D.C. until April 30, 2018.

Photo shared from: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfw33BYjiJ1/?taken-by=natgeo