WILD ANIMALS AND UNDISCOVERED PLANETS: Princeton University astrophysicist Gaspar Bakos has helped to discover more than 140 planets outside our solar system. Now he and his pandemic pastime of photographing animals in the woods near his house are the subject of “Observatory,” a short documentary film by Jared Flesher, premiering online this week in the Princeton Environmental Film Festival.

By Donald Gilpin

Last November Jared Flesher, part-time staff videographer in Princeton University’s Office of Sustainability and founder of his own video production company based in Ringoes, heard about an astrophysicist who had occupied himself and his three sons during the pandemic by taking photos of animals in the woods with a $40 motion-sensor camera.

“He’d been running around for a few months during the pandemic with a wildlife camera just to see what was out there, exploring around the lake to see what other life was there,” Flesher said. “During the pandemic a lot of people were feeling cooped up wondering what to do with themselves.”

Flesher, who describes himself as a storyteller with a passion for nature and for just looking around, wasted no time in following up on the doings of this astrophysicist, who turned out to be Hungarian-born Princeton University Professor Gaspar Bakos. Bakos lives next to a tiny patch of forest bordering on Lake Carnegie and is known for having helped discover more than 140 planets outside our
solar system.

The result of Flesher’s investigations is a short documentary film, Observatory, which premieres April 16 at the Princeton Environmental Film Festival.

“Gaspar told this incredible story that to me was fascinating — about this world of wildlife right in Princeton and around Lake Carnegie,” said Flesher. “I think what’s so incredible is that Gaspar put so much time into this project when he has this whole other interest and expertise, which is that he’s a really accomplished astrophysicist who has been instrumental in discovering a significant fraction of the planets in the galaxy outside of our solar system.”

Flesher continued, “It’s interesting to me here as a storyteller that professionally Gaspar looks at the farthest thing in the galaxy, but he spends his free time studying and looking at the local raccoons. I think that’s an interesting combination of the big and the small in terms of interest and passion.”

Flesher noted that Bakos has recently been testing out different wildlife cameras and, with the support of the University’s Office of Sustainability and a grant from the High Meadows Foundation Sustainability Fund, is planning to expand on his initial photography project with 18 additional cameras.

“Everything is still in the planning stages,” Flesher said, “but the video Observatory is a kick-off for this larger project that will tell the story of wildlife in Princeton. The process of discovery — not knowing what you’ll find — is what makes it fun and interesting.”

Flesher emphasized the importance of bringing Bakos’ stories and photos to the attention of the Princeton community and anyone else who is interested.

“I think that’s important because it’s easy to forget that we humans share the natural world with a lot of other life, whether minks or raccoons or beavers or interesting birds that live on the lake,” said Flesher.

He continued, “It’s an important reminder that the decisions we make and the things we do, whether we build something or where we put up lights or where we use pesticides or where we pollute water — these things impact not just other humans, which is important to think about, but they impact everything that lives in our community.”

Flesher, who graduated from the University of Richmond in 2005 with a degree in journalism, has always been interested in writing and journalism.

He started out as a beat reporter in Somerville, New Jersey, but with the newspaper industry shrinking he decided to branch out. “I really loved storytelling and wanted to find a way to do it,” he said.  He wrote a variety of magazine articles, started taking his own pictures to accompany those stories, and became interested in photography.

“The natural progression was telling stories with video,” he said.  “As soon as I started making documentary films I realized that I loved every part of the process — the storytelling, narrative process, and there’s also the technical process with cameras and microphones, and editing software. All parts of that were interesting to me.”

He continued, “In addition to making documentaries you can make videos for paying clients, and it seemed like there was a livelihood there, so I transitioned slowly but steadily from print journalism toward video production. Eventually I felt confident enough to start my own production company, Hundred Year Films, and I met a bunch of interesting people along the way.”

His interest in environmental subjects led him to join the Office of Sustainability at Princeton University. Another subject of fascination for Flesher is the state of New Jersey. His web series The Creature Show, “based in the wilds of New Jersey,” is all about threatened and endangered species in the state.

“I’m very interested in place-based storytelling,” he said, “so the idea that some astrophysicist was running around at night placing cameras around Princeton was a perfect fit for my interests. Sometimes it’s easy to get distracted or to forget how special the place is where you live. Central Jersey is a pretty wonderful place with lots of opportunities and lots of natural value as well.”

This spring Flesher is looking forward to promoting a film he made last year called Pine Mud, about the damage off-road vehicles are doing in the Pine Barrens. “One of the most special habitats we have in New Jersey is the Pine Barrens, and there’s significant damage being done to it by off-road vehicles, people who don’t follow the rules down there. The state needs to do more to address this problem. I’m hoping to do  more screenings of this film this summer in real life and online as well.”

The Princeton Environmental Film Festival, sponsored by the Princeton Public Library online this year, runs through April 18 and includes nine feature length films and nine short films. Flesher’s Observatory, featuring astrophysicist Gaspar Bakos, is free to watch at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 16.  Visit princetonlibrary.org for registration and further information.