NEW YORK, NY.-The Agora Gallery ( 530 West 25th Street , Chelsea , New York , NY, 10001) will present Joe Zammit-Lucia in Tripping the Light Fantastic: an exhibition of Fine Art Photography. Scheduled to run from November 20th through December 11th the collection will feature a captivating selection of Joe Zammit-Lucia’s photographic imagery.

Joe Zammit-Lucia’s photographic art is firmly focused on Heritage, Conservation and the Environment. The question of how art, and in particular his art, can help save the planet is always on his mind. “Art can touch people’s emotions and provide a strong push to get people to act in support of the environment”. His commitment goes beyond the creation of artwork. The artist donates all profits from his photographic art works to environmental organizations.

His work has been described as ‘a feast of visual inventiveness with a social message’; critics have compared his animal portraits to the work of Richard Avedon; he has been said to have the mind of a journalist and the soul of an artist. By moving away from the usual nature photography of animals in their habitat to a modern, ‘studio portrait’ style of representation, his aim is to elevate the way we view these animals to a near human level. “If we can learn to respect these animals as rightful co-inhabitants of our environment, there is a greater chance that we may slow down or even reverse the environmental damage that is driving them to extinction”, he says. In some of the images, the artist uses a monochrome medium, stripping the subject to its essence and further elevating the subject’s status as represented by the portrait. The visual impact is nothing short of emotionally captivating.

This powerful, expressive approach that positively engages our emotions was recently recognized by the International Masters Cup. The Masters Cup celebrates photographers who operate at the highest levels of their craft. The winning images were selected by a who's who Jury of the most celebrated professionals in art and photography from National Geographic, Musee de E'Lysee, Financial Times to The Art Newspaper and Fine Art Society in London . Awards were presented in 21 categories to photographers of twenty five nationalities. Joe Zammit-Lucia's image " Defiance ", an exceptional image entered in the Nature category received a high percentage of votes to win third place overall. The awards Creative Director, Basil O'Brien said: "Joe's entry certainly represents color photography at its finest and we're pleased to present him with the Honor of Distinction."