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James Museum introduces ‘Wolves’ to St. Pete
“Wolves are more complicated than just what you learn about in fairy tales.”
On Ronan Donovan’s website, the National Geographic wildlife photographer and videographer strategically places a quote from environmentalist and writer Rachel Carson: “Man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.”
Donovan himself strives to “mend the rift between modern humans and the more than human world,” he writes, because through family bonds, similar survival challenges and ancient behaviors, man and animal are no so far apart.
Through his works, he continues, “I’ve felt more aliveness, more connection, more grief and love, and a felt sense of my place amongst my fellow humans.”
Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan, curated by the National Geographic Society, debuts this weekend at the James Museum of Wildlife Art. It is a collection of images from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and Ellesmere Island in the high Canadian Arctic.
A mother greets her six-week-old pup as a yearling female rests nearby. The yearling helped attend to both this pup and the pups of another den, presumably also members of the yearling’s extended family.
“I’m excited for Wolves to bring a new perspective to our wildlife storytelling at The James,” said Chief Curator Emily Kapes. “Donovan captured wolf life and group dynamics like we haven’t seen before. Wolves are absolutely enchanting and complex creatures. This show combines storytelling, science, history, and gorgeous imagery.”
Wolves, Donovan says in a promotional video accompanying the exhibit, “are more complicated than just what you learn about in fairy tales. Everything they do in life is for their pack. It’s my hope that we can learn how to co-exist.”
Wild wolves in North America are under constant threat because of extreme wolf-control laws, and humans increasingly shrink the animals’ natural ranges and food sources.
“The way that a culture views wolves can reveal a lot about how a society interacts with their environment,” Donovan said. “Is there a belief of power over animals, or is there a collective shared landscape?
“As a visual storyteller, my goal is to portray my subjects in their most authentic way by showing the challenges they face as well as the tender moments between family members.”
Donovan will attend Friday’s opening reception at the James Museum, 6-8 p.m. His Saturday Artist Talk is sold out.
Wolves: Photography by Ronan Donovan will be on view through Sept. 7.
The Mollie’s pack investigates grizzly bear tracks in Yellowstone’s Pelican Valley. The only pack that remains from the wolf reintroduction in 1995, the Mollie’s pack was originally called the Crystal Creek pack. It was renamed in memory of Mollie Beattie (1947-1996), former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and an instrumental figure in the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone.
Although they are skilled hunters, wolves are not above taking advantage of a free meal. The matriarch of the Mollie’s pack, identified as 779F (right), closes in on the carcass of a drowned bison with other members of her pack. The largest female wolf ever recorded in Yellowstone, she lived to be eight years old— a ripe age for a wild wolf.
