Morgan Heim (USA) follows the story of those trying to save the northern spotted owl through controversial means.
Mark Higley, a biologist working for the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Northern California, is one of only six people in the American Northwest certified to kill barred owls. As a biologist, he’s determined to do all that he can to protect the northern spotted owl, but killing a barred owl - or any owl - isn’t something he finds easy.
Working in complete darkness, Morgan had to be positioned behind Mark, pre-compose her shots and hope things hadn’t changed when she took the photo. ‘This element of the story is not about the killing,’ she says, ‘it’s about the person who has to do it’.
USA
Morgan is a wildlife photojournalist, filmmaker and adventurer focusing on the ways human-influenced environmental change impacts wildlife. In 2020, she co-launched Her Wild Vision Initiative, which is aimed at raising the voices of diverse women in the craft of conservation visual storytelling. Morgan is a Senior Fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers, and her work has appeared in National Geographic, Audubon, Smithsonian and the New York Times.
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