DIANNE BLELL
FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

For two years, I enthusiastically dedicated myself to photographing endangered species. My goal was not only to create beautiful portraits of these regal animals, but to increase awareness and support for their dwindling populations. The Guggenheim Fellowship in Photography that I received in 1989 enabled me not only to achieve this goal, but to do so with tremendous creative breadth. With their letter in hand, I was greeted with respect and doors were opened — figuratively and literally — to work freely with permission from officials in the Wildlife Game Reserves, established NGO’s, and with widely respected animal-behavioral researchers. This series was shown in a solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery in 1991.