Creator Spotlight: Why Renowned Wildlife Photographer Margot Raggett Keeps Returning to Kickstarter

The British wildlife photographer Margot Raggett started her Remembering Wildlife series 11 years ago. The newest installment, Remembering Giraffes, a coffee table book full of images donated by many of the world's top wildlife photographers, will be published on Monday, October 12, 2026. 

As with all of the previous titles in the series, Raggett's looking to bring the book into the world with the help of Kickstarter. She focuses her Kickstarter projects on getting the books published; once they are, all profits from the sale of the books are donated to projects protecting the featured species. (So far her series has raised more than $1.62 million USD for conservation—you can read more on this support here).

So, why the focus on giraffes for book 11? For one, everyone seems to love giraffes! And, also, as it's noted in the project description:

Over the past 35 years, giraffe numbers have declined by almost 30%. In some regions, populations have fallen by as much as 95%, and over the last three centuries they’ve lost nearly 90% of their historical range. Despite this, their situation rarely makes the headlines.

We were inspired by Raggett's continued focus on the Remembering Wildlife series, so we asked her some questions about it, along with this newest installment.

When did you decide to start this overall project, and what inspired you to do so?

Remembering Wildlife began in 2015 after I witnessed the aftermath of a poached elephant in Kenya. It was a moment that stayed with me. I’d spent years working in photography and communications, and I realized that the wildlife photography community contained an extraordinary amount of talent, passion and influence that could be mobilised for conservation.

The idea was simple: bring the world’s best wildlife photographers together to create the most beautiful books on a species ever made, and direct 100% of the profits to conservation projects protecting that species.

What started as a single book about elephants has grown into a global collaboration of photographers, conservationists and supporters—what I like to think of as Wildlife Photographers United. Together we’ve now funded more than 80 conservation projects across 34 countries, proving that beautiful storytelling can translate into real protection for wildlife on the ground.

What's been the most surprising thing you’ve realized along the way from the first book to today?

How generous and collaborative the wildlife photography community is.

From the beginning, photographers didn’t just contribute images—they became ambassadors for the cause. Many of the world’s leading wildlife photographers donated their work, helped promote the books, and used their platforms to amplify the conservation message.

Another surprise has been how powerful beauty can be. We often think conservation communication has to focus on crisis, but what we’ve found is that celebrating wildlife. showing it at its most extraordinary, inspires people to care and to act.

That combination of art and impact has allowed us to donate more than £1.23 million ($1.62 million USD) to frontline conservation projects so far.

It’s incredibly meaningful to see a creative idea translate into tangible conservation impact.

What do you get out of this work and what has it taught you about yourself?

It’s incredibly meaningful to see a creative idea translate into tangible conservation impact.

Every time we fund a project, whether that’s anti-poaching patrols, community conservation initiatives or scientific research, you realize that something that began as a book on a coffee table can help protect wildlife in the real world.

On a personal level, it’s taught me the power of persistence. When we started, I had no team and no blueprint for how to do this. But if you care deeply enough about something, and you’re prepared to ask people to join you, extraordinary things can happen.

What does your curiosity look like? How do you explore things?

A lot of it comes from listening—to photographers, conservationists, and people working on the ground with wildlife.

Each book begins with a huge amount of exploration: speaking with conservation partners, understanding the threats a species faces, and discovering the people who are working hardest to protect it.

But curiosity also applies to the creative side. I’m always asking: how can we make this book even more beautiful, more powerful, more meaningful than the last one?

That constant curiosity, about both the art and the conservation, keeps the project evolving.

From the beginning, Remembering Wildlife has been about bringing people together around a shared purpose. Kickstarter allows supporters to feel part of that journey from the very start of a book.

What first drew you to Kickstarter and why have you kept coming back?

Kickstarter felt like the perfect platform for a collaborative project like this, although that first year in 2015, I genuinely had no idea whether we’d be successful or not. When we hit target that year on the first day I was amazed and relieved. But this year we hit it within five minutes, such is the support we’ve been able to generate!

From the beginning, Remembering Wildlife has been about bringing people together around a shared purpose. Kickstarter allows supporters to feel part of that journey from the very start of a book. Over the years it’s become more than just a way to fund production, it’s become a wonderful community. Many backers return for every new title, building their collections as the series grows.

That sense of collective momentum is incredibly powerful.

I was in Boise last weekend. There's a giraffe at the Boise zoo, and someone I was talking to referred to him as "a local celebrity." What is it about giraffes, do you think, that inspires this kind of adoration?

Giraffes have a remarkable presence. They’re elegant, slightly surreal animals - the tallest land mammal on Earth, yet incredibly gentle.

There’s also something about their curiosity. When a giraffe looks at you, it often feels like it’s studying you just as much as you’re studying it.

Perhaps that’s why people connect with them so strongly. They have personality, individuality and grace.

What many people don’t realize is that giraffe populations have declined dramatically in recent decades. So part of the aim of Remembering Giraffes is to celebrate how extraordinary they are while helping support the conservation efforts working to protect them.

The more books we sell on Kickstarter, the more funding we raise to print even more books for future sale—so a strong Kickstarter is essential for our mission. 

For you, what would make Remembering Giraffes a success?

Success has two sides for us.

The first is creating a book that truly honors giraffes, bringing together extraordinary images from photographers around the world to produce something that people will treasure.

The second is the impact. Every book we sell generates funding for conservation projects protecting giraffes and the ecosystems they depend on. And the more books we sell on Kickstarter, the more funding we raise to print even more books for future sale—so a strong Kickstarter is essential for our mission. 

If Remembering Giraffes helps people fall a little more in love with these animals and understand the issues they face, and at the same time contributes meaningful funding to the organisations working to protect them, then we’ve achieved exactly what we set out to do.