The Wildlife Collective is a group of nine professional photographers from around the world who banded together over Drew Hamilton’s call to stop the Pebble Mine in Alaska’s hugely important Bristol Bay. From the work to save Bristol Bay came the idea to build a modern network of conservation-focused photographers to teach wildlife photography and its impact on projects to save species and regions for future generations.
10% of all gross sales of trips and teaching from The Wildlife Collective go to conservation projects and not-for-profits, and the photographers coalesce around specific campaigns together, regardless of where the project is focused.
A past project, the Protect the Arctic campaign, centred around the Arctic Wildlife Refuge in Alaska through the creation of a content kit people could use in their calls to action and advocacy, and working with an influencer on Tik Tok to get the message to over 6 million people.
Zac Mills, a photographer based out of Canmore AB, left a high paying tax-free position as a budgeting expert with the UN. Today he is active in a local conservation effort to save a critical wildlife corridor in the Bow Valley, where two proposed developments will take up 80% of the total available land. It could double the population of Canmore, and interfere with animal migrations between Yellowstone Park to the Yukon.
Tom McPherson, another photographer in the Collective, was a sailboat captain along the B.C. Coast for 14 years and is now a photography teacher and coastal sea wolf and black bear guide on Vancouver Island. His tours are 8 days/7 nights at pre-scouted locations where bears and wolves have been sighted. These trips are geared towards photographers willing to work with challenging lighting conditions to create unique photos. The tours are all-inclusive (except for alcohol) and begin in Campbell River. 10% of sales go to Pacific Wild’s #savebcwolves campaign, and Tom is eager to assist Pacific Wild’s work to have the coastal sea wolf designated as an Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU) and eligible for special protection, especially on Vancouver Island where sport hunting and trapping of these amazing animals has exploded into the media cycle worldwide.
There is one tour for 2021 for bears & wolves: July 8-15, with a maximum of 5 guests.
