HOWARD MORRIS ⎮ Photography and Book Design

Illustrative and conceptual imagery of people on location and in studio.

Described as entering "The Heart of Darkness" the Rio Sambu is a little known region of the Darien jungle located in the southwestern corner of Panama, stretching from the Golfo de San Miguel to nearly the Colombian border. Surrounded by fear and misconception, this region of Panama is living in relative obscurity to the outside world. Stories of FARC guerillas and hostile inhabitants abound in Panama City, but the truth is that this world is a land of ever-changing beauty with an indigenous Embera culture that opens its arms to all visitors and shares the jungle with a childlike joy and curiosity. The Embera of Comarca #2 live on the edge of the modern world surviving in one of the last pristine jungles, trying to save their cultural identity while adapting to the intrusion of outside cultures.

Nestled between Guatemala to the west and south and Mexico to the north, Belize, the former colony of British Honduras, is home to large diversity of Fauna. 22.6% of Belize’s total national territory is under some form of protection, forming 102 protected areas designated for sustainable use and management. Even with these protections in place, many species are now endangered due to deforestation, poaching and pollution.

A collection of wildlife photography featuring an array of beautiful animals from the forests and jungles of the world.

A collection of travel photographs of people and places. A glimpse into our world from the countries of Guatemala, Costa Rica, Belize, Russia, Panama, and the United States.

The Ojai Raptor Center (ORC) is a state and federally permitted, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of birds of prey and other wildlife, and to providing educational programs about wildlife and our shared environment. The ORC takes in 500-1000 sick, injured or orphaned birds (including non-raptor birds, and some mammals) every year. Occupying a 4 acre campus, the Raptor Center houses a medical room and hospital, outdoor flights, aviaries and mews. The ORC Wildlife Education Program is committed to teaching the public about local raptor species, and how human interaction affects them. Utilizing the 20 non-releasable birds of prey who live at the center as education ambassadors, the ORC performs education programs at schools and public events. Through these live and up close encounters, they are trying to teach the next generation a love and respect for birds of prey, and their important place in the ecosystem, and our shared environment. 

Founded in 2004, the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is dedicated to the rescue of unwanted and displaced companion parrots. To date, they have rescued hundreds of birds, rehabilitating the majority for adoption into loving homes. For the parrots that have health or behavioral problems preventing re-homing, the Sanctuary provides lifelong love and care. Parrots are empathetic animals with the intelligence of a young child, and can gauge and respond to human emotions. Living 20-60 years, with some species living well over 80 years, parrots often outlive their owners. Some have been mistreated by well-intentioned, but uninformed owners, and do not receive the care, understanding, and medical treatment they require. Sometimes they are abandoned by their owners. The book Avian Ambassadors is an informative view into the amazing residents of the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary, and the growing number of displaced parrots in need of shelter, medical and behavioral rehabilitation, and adoption. For more information, visit www.sbbird.org

LARC was founded by Lorin Lindner, PhD, MPH, and Matthew Simmons in Northern Ventura County to offer a therapeutic work environment for returning combat veterans and a forever home to wolves, wolfdogs, coyotes, horses, parrots and other animals. Featured in Animal Planet’s docu-series Wolves and Warriors, LARC’s program has veterans care for the wolves and wolfdogs at the sanctuary, building a relationship that often leads to healing from their respective traumas. In their Wolves and Warriors program, veterans care for the wolves and wolfdogs at the sanctuary and the relationships that develop often lead to healing from any respective traumas. Situated on a 20-acre facility, LARC leads the fight against the breeding and sale of high-content wolfdogs to the public, who are unaware of the difficulties of owning a partially wild animal. Through their WolfGuard program, a team of combat veterans monitors wildlands in North America to document and put an end to atrocities against wild wolf populations. LARC is also home to Serenity Park, a sanctuary for parrots who have been relinquished by their human companions or rescued from cases of neglect.

As part of the Cesar Millan Foundation mission to help organizations that are helping dogs, Cesar Millan and His Son Andre visited the East Valley Shelter in Van Nuys, CA. Committed have no dog be unwanted, and for every dog to have a good home, Cesar seeks to reestablish the natural harmony between dogs and people, reduce euthanasia numbers, and increase spay and neuter efforts. Cesar’s mission is to increase awareness of the over 600 million homeless, abandoned, or unwanted dogs worldwide. Born in 1969 in northwestern Mexico, Cesar’s passion for nature and his unique ability to “communicate” with dogs developed on his grandfather’s farm. These experiences developed an innate feel for animals, a natural capacity to read and understand dogs. Using a strong belief in himself, and his approach and process in handling dogs, Cesar displayed a calm assertive nature with recently rescued pit bulls at the shelter. Entering numerous cages his patient confidence put the occupants at ease and eventually drew them to his side. “In the dog world, the followers approach the leaders and not the other way around”. — Cesar Millan

With a vastly expanding population, the human race has expanded into the role of caretaker for the beings of our planet. What happens to the abandoned, the neglected, the displaced, the injured? Who is responsible for the care, the treatment, the rehabilitation? Is there Sanctuary for creatures other than mankind? Sanctuary is an ongoing personal project focusing on the world of abandoned exotic pets, wild animals injured or confiscated from poachers, and the victims of contact with man. A story of the struggles of coexistence and accountability we now have for the animal kingdom. Each day countless creatures are injured, poached for the pet trade, or simply abandoned on the side of the road. Numerous organizations have stepped in to help with the ever growing population of animals that can no longer live in the wild, or with the proper care may yet have a chance at freedom. Sanctuary is a portrait of different sanctuaries, the visual stories of the animals and those who care for them. A vignette into the importance of giving, and the surprising effects of what is given back. Within is an opportunity for the reeducation of our place and responsibility to the sentient beings that we share the planet with. Included here, are small selections from Lockwood Animal Rescue Center, Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary, Ojai Raptor Center, Planet Rehab, The Cesar Milan Foundation, Belize Zoo, and Belize Bird Rescue.