Nat Geo’s Steve Winter on Big Cats and the Power of Heartbreaking Photos

Nat Geo photographer Steve Winter is one of those rare people who is living the dream he first had as a child. At eight years old, flipping through the pages of National Geographic, “my heart was gone” he says. That was it, his fate was sealed: he was going to become a National Geographic photographer.

In the video above he talks about that experience, his first assignment for National Geographic (a black jaguar was scratching at his door in the middle of the night and he was told it was no big deal) and how it’s the heartbreaking photos, probably more so than the beautiful ones, that really inspire change. Two minutes of pure inspiration.

(via PROOF)