I get Joe. I don’t know Joe, but I get him. I, too, need to know that there are wild animals. In an increasingly built-up brick-and-mortar world, it is easy to lose track of nature. Joe, however, made a decision to not only know that there are wild animals, but to live among them. And somewhere along the road of his life in Wyoming, he kept track of nature and lost track of normal — and how lucky he is to have done so.
Screenshot: Joe Riis via National Geographic
Photographer Joe Riis has spent “[eight] years of his life documenting animal migrations in Yellowstone area… [and] his images have helped ensure that these animals have the freedom to roam.”
In giving these animals a more prominent presence in the bigger picture of our current trajectory, and showing the world through their eyes, he fell in love with the animals. And it makes sense. They, like him, are the wildest ones and define the edges of an ecosystem.
“I prefer to be surrounded by big trees and little bugs and animals that are moving long distances,” Joe goes. “You know, just thinking and sitting around and just being alone for me in a lot of ways is the most comforting thing.”
But this life he has chosen to live hasn’t always been easy. He has often struggled with the same questions we all ask ourselves:
Do you work? Do you try to make yourself happy? Do you try to plan for the future? Do you try to live in the moment?
Screenshot: Joe Riis via National Geographic
“I don’t know,” he concludes. “It’s hard to figure out.”
Thus he chose the only way to go about figuring it out was to continue his life as he had been living it and figure that out for himself.
Screenshot: Joe Riis via National Geographic
For more on Joe Riis, head on over to National Geographic.
