The National Geographic Photo Ark is a travelling exhibition of photographer Joel Sartore’s quest to create a photo archive of biodiversity around the world. So far, Sartore has captured studio portraits of more than 6,000 species – a number that he hopes to double. On 1 July, the ark will open at Melbourne zoo – the first time it has been exhibited in the southern hemisphere. More than 50 portraits will be on display, including many of Australian endangered animals being protected by programs at the zoo itself. These captions have been edited from text supplied by Melbourne zoo. Here: Barking owl. (Photo by Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark/The Guardian)

Luke Timms of Australia poses during the pre judging of the IFBB Australian Pro Grand Prix XI at Plenary Hall on March 12, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia.

Maria Sharapova of Russia arrives at the 2012 Australian open Players Party at Crown Towers on January 15, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Prezioso/Getty Images)

Jirka Väätäinen is a Finnish artist from Melbourne and he recently reimagined some of Disney's most famous princes. He took these iconic characters and made them look like real people.

Australian basketball player Liz Cambage poses during a portait shoot at Brighton Beach on March 29, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia.

An animatronic dragon performs during the launch of How To Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular at a Dreamworks and Global Creatures media call on August 8, 2011 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Pun on the word “Vexame” which means shame with the word “Hexa”, the word for sixth (World Cup). (Photo by Yahoo Sports)

Jirka Väätäinen is a Finnish artist from Melbourne and he recently reimagined some of Disney's most famous princess. He took these iconic characters and made them look like real people.