The director of the Biodiversity Foundation, Ana Leiva, today inaugurated the photographic exhibition “The wild gaze. Encounters with Iberian fauna”, at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (c/José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, Madrid). She has done so accompanied by the director of the National Museum of Natural Sciences, Esteban Manrique, and by the author of the images, Andoni Canela.
“The Wild Gaze” – which will be open to the public until September 12, 2010 – is a major exhibition that celebrates the International Year of Biodiversity in Spain. In 45 large images he displays the work of a prestigious nature photographer, Andoni Canela, determined to discover everyday scenes of some specimens of Iberian fauna in their habitats.
It is an unpublished document that shows the visitor the life of 40 species photographed in a state of absolute freedom and that, on the contrary, hides the complexity of portraying the elusive inhabitants of our nature reserves, without being disturbed, without altering their environment in the slightest.
The selection presented to the public is made up of photographs that represent the diversity of the natural heritage of one of the richest territories on the continent. The tour starts with large images of specimens of Iberian fauna (varnished by hand and mounted on oak wood frames from beams more than three centuries old) and with explanatory panels that account for the places where they have been taken, as well as the state of conservation of each species. In the Museum’s garden, the photographic panels continue with the story of nature, proposing new encounters with the exciting wildlife of the Peninsula.
More than 15,000 people have already enjoyed “La mirada salvaje” in Valencia and Zaragoza. Visitors enjoy contemplating photographs of bears, lynxes, wolves, capercaillie, foxes, bearded vultures and other emblematic animals, in a unique approach to the richness of the natural heritage and biodiversity that we treasure in Spain. The exhibition can then be seen in the cities of Bilbao, Valladolid and Barcelona.
