Joel Sartore quietly exits Nikon’s USA Ambassador Program

I often visit the Nikon Ambassadors listing on the Nikon USA’s website to see if any changes have taken place, either additions to or removals from their Ambassador’s program. On my recent visit, I noticed one name missing, that of Joel Sartore, of Photo Ark fame. According to Joel Sartore’s website, he was invited and accepted Nikon ambassador membership in April of 2016 along with Matthew Jordan Smith, Deanne Fitzmaurice and Joey Terrill.

At the end of the announcement of Joel’s ambassador acceptance on his website (https://www.joelsartore.com/nikon-ambassador/), a clarification of what ambassador membership means: The Nikon Ambassadors are authorized by Nikon to demonstrate to the public and professional image makers the capabilities and use of Nikon imaging products, but the expressive content of their work is solely their own. Nikon Ambassadors are independent contractors and visual artists and are not employees of Nikon. Nikon Ambassadors are responsible for the content of their photographs, websites, exhibitions, and visual images and the manner in which such content and images are obtained. Any messages, beliefs, or viewpoints expressed in the Nikon Ambassadors’ photographs, websites, exhibitions, or visual images do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs or viewpoints of Nikon or any Nikon employee.

I was not able to find any additional information as to why Joel left the program, either on his website or external sources. As best as I can tell, Joel still uses Nikon equipment.