National Geographic Photographer and Speaker Joel Sartore has had his bag stolen at Bali airport. The bag in question contained his computer, cameras, and worst of all, hard drives containing images from a three-week trip he’d spent shooting some of the world’s rarest animals.
Bali police, as well as management at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport – where the incident occurred – have since been enlisted to help.
Communication and legal manager of the airport’s operation PT Angkasa Pura I, Arie Ahsanurrohim announced they had shared CCTV images with the police, in hopes of fueling investigations into how Sartore’s bag was taken. Police confirmed they have blurred images of the man who was spotted stealing it.
If you don’t know him by name, you may know some of his legacy. Sartore is the founder of Photo Ark, a documentary project aiming to help endangered species, which is now in its 25th year.
He posted about the incident on his Instagram, with details of the hard drives, and an accompanying picture. He appealed to anyone viewing the post, writing:
If you have any information that could lead us to these missing hard drives, please contact myself, the local authorities or my friends at Asa Film in Bali, phone +62 812 9829 8109. I need your help now to bring these hard drives home. No question asked. Each is blue in color, either 1 TB or 2 TB, and are made by Silicon Power.