Joel Such: Cloud Forest Conservation through a Lens
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “the best of both worlds?” For Joel Such, it might be spending part of the year in Tatamá National Natural Park in a cloud forest in western Colombia, based at his wife’s family’s lodge, and another part of the year in Lyons, Colorado, north of Boulder, where his family lives. He is a conservation biologist, and researcher, as well as a nature photographer, and he will receive NANPA’s Outstanding Young Nature Photographer Award at the 2025 NANPA Summit May 15-17 in Tucson, Arizona.
A Long and Winding Photography Journey
“My journey to becoming a photographer started at a very young age. I was obsessed with birds. Before I could speak, I was pointing at birds and, as soon as I could, I started drawing birds.
“But then at age nine, I got my hands on my first DSLR and telephoto lens. And that changed everything! I was hooked. The ability to capture images of the birds I was so interested in was amazing to me.”
But that didn’t directly lead to a career in photography. Instead, in his academic career, he focused on conservation biology. He never forgot about photography, but it took a back seat for a while.
“Actually,” he says, “one of the goals of my academic career was seeing how art and science could be combined. So, even though I felt like I lost a bit of traction with my photography career during my academic studies, now that I have a degree (Such recently received his master’s degree) I feel like I’m in an advantageous position in my dual roles as both a photographer and biologist.” He is focused on making a positive impact in the world of conservation and finds that his photography has become a very powerful tool in that quest.
From Childhood Sketches to Field Research
Just as he taught himself photography, he started learning about research back when he was about eight years old, participating in local scientific projects. It was by engaging in rigorous scientific field research that he started gaining a deep knowledge of the natural world and the complex nuances of conservation. He’s seen, first hand, how research and scientific findings aren’t easily accessible to the general public, and how photography can be an important tool in making the science more relatable and understandable to a wider audience.
From Colorado Mountains to Colombia’s Cloud Forest
It was back in 2017 when Such first went to Colombia, and wound up at Tatamá National Natural Park. That’s where he met his wife and where he now lives for a substantial part of the year. In the time since, he’s been studying and documenting the bird and mammal populations there. The park is known for its rich biodiversity, rare bird species, butterflies and orchids, as well as one of the few natural areas unaltered by humans remaining in the country.
One of his study interests is the impact of climate change on the cloud forest ecosystem. “Down there, in the Western Andes, it’s this incredibly diverse cloud forest. Just in this one region, there’s a 12 kilometer road along which we have recorded over 600 species of birds!” Such continues his quest “to document many of these elusive and poorly understood birds.”
He’s been based at his wife’s family’s lodge, Montezuma Rainforest Reserve and Eco Lodge. Such and his wife acquired a sizeable tract of land for conservation. “There’s a decent amount of primary forest left from before the property was turned into a cattle farm. While a big chunk of it was grazing land, now the majority of it has been reforested. The idea is to continue with our restoration efforts, especially in riparian corridors and then also work on sustainable agriculture because that is also a very important part of minimizing our impact … [T]he feeling of documenting birds and other wildlife that are thriving because of those efforts just means the world to me and brings a whole other new meaning to my photography work.”
Awards and Conferences
When he found out he would be receiving NANPA’s Outstanding Young Nature Photographer Award, Such hardly believed it. “The honor means so much to me because I’ve dedicated my life to protecting these sensitive cloud forest ecosystems. Getting this award and getting connected with NANPA gives me the opportunity to present my work to a new audience, but it also just makes me more motivated than ever to continue with my photography work.”
He previously received the 2022 Schantz Brothers Fellowship for his Tatamá Bird Monitoring Program, a long-term monitoring and data collecting effort to establish baseline data and identify trends in species populations. As part of that fellowship, he presented his work at a bird festival in Alaska.
“I have gone to different conferences, but more for ornithology and birding, but nothing dedicated to photography,” says Such. “And for me, photography is such an important part of my life. I am so, so excited to have the chance to meet and network with other like-minded people. You can spend all the hours and years out in the field getting amazing photographs, but such an important part of the industry and of conservation is networking with people. So, I am beyond excited to come to Arizona in May.
“Being connected to different organizations and finding different mentors was such an important part of my growth as a field ornithologist and it’s the same thing for photography. Finding mentors and connecting with like-minded people through an organization like NANPA and events like Summit are extremely helpful to me and other young people starting out in their careers as photographers.”
Catch Joel Such’s presentation, network with other nature photographers, and visit the vendors in the exhibit hall at NANPA’s 2025 Summit in Tucson this May. Don’t miss it!
