James Reardon Bio & Contact

James Reardon is a conservationist, zoologist, wildlife cinematographer and film maker. Over the past fifteen (ok, it’s getting closer to 20..) years he has called Wales, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Juneau in Alaska, Athens, Greece, Dunedin in New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka home, and had the privilege of seeing many other parts of our planet. James is a zoologist, applied conservationist, with a special interest in herpetology, although his work has covered many different taxa and ecosystems, whilst also remaining very busy with filmmaking, cinematography and stills photography. James holds a PhD in ecology and has over a decade of experience in conservation delivery in some of the world most ecologically and politically challenging environments.

James@jamesreardon.org

Read on for more aggrandising guff…

James Reardon and Richard Henry (RIP) the Kakapo

James has been working as a lighting and wildlife cameraman since 1996. James’ background in photography and cinematography includes working with a range of international broadcasters including the renown BBC Natural History Unit and also as the staff wildlife cinematographer for Oxford Scientific Films. Recognition of this work included Panda Awards from the Wildscreen Film Festival and an Emmy nomination for cinematography in 2004.

A growing demand for his services as a cinematographer, director and filmmaker led James to establish Last Planet Limited in 2013, an umbrella company for his independent filmmaking work as well as contract filming for broadcasters such as the BBCNHU, National Geographic and ZDF. Last Planet Limited also manages a photo and stock footage library of his independent work. See the About Us page for more details.

James Reardon, on location in trademark ‘jumpsuit’ as American colleagues (with a finer eye for style) enjoy pointing out. There are two types of wildlife camerapeople, those who dress the part in khaki and camo, and those who take a more practical approach. Photo – Nick Easton BBCNHU

James at his happiest, in a rainforest, pointing a camera at yet another magnificent creature (Megaphyra nasuta in this case).

The rough horned lizard of Sri Lanka, Ceratophora aspera to close friends. This tiny little male lizard lurking amongst the buttress roots of Sinharaja National Park epitomises everything lovely in this world.

There is a miraculous world of infinite biological detail around all of us, on which we depend for food, water, shelter and stimulation. We live in a time of great change and enormous loss of this marvellous legacy. Some of us see the wonder and responsibility this brings. I would like to share this wonder, but also ensure that you have no doubt: without massive change to society, economics and our daily lives, much of this beauty and complexity will be lost. We can’t comprehend the true meaning of this, calculate the exact monetary cost to economies, or the social and psychological consequences to our descendants, but rest assured it is something worth fighting to prevent.

Kindest,

James T. Reardon