15 ICONIC IMAGES FROM NG

15 iconic images from the National Geographic archive

Over 115 years ago, National Geographic published its first picture essay and never looked back. These recent images are pulled from the National Geographic archive and celebrate the power of photography today.

Tanzania, 2015In his “Day to Night” series, photographer Stephen Wilkes creates layered images recording the progression of time across a single landscape. In Serengeti National Park, he and his assistant spent 26 continuous hours perched on a platform 18 feet above a watering hole, recording m…

Photograph by Stephen Wilkes

By Whitney Latorre

October 31, 2022 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Today, the words “National Geographic” are practically synonymous with photography.

But the inaugural issue of the magazine had not a single photograph. The first issue was published in 1888, but the first picture essay wouldn’t appear until 1905, when editor Gilbert H. Grosvenor took a risk and filled 11 pages with photographs of Tibet. Two board members resigned, appalled that the magazine was becoming “a picture book,” but reaction to the new medium was enthusiastic—and membership increased sixfold.

Democratic Republic of Congo, 2010A scientist walks on the cooled floor of Mount Nyiragongo, a volcano in the Virunga Mountains. Scientists embarked on an expedition to descend into the crater to study an 1800°F lava lake that stretches more than 700 feet across. In 2021, an eruption sent a river of lava to the outskirts of nearby Goma, a metropolis of 1.5 million people.

Photograph by Carsten Peter

Grosvenor never looked back. In 1906, he dedicated an entire issue to wildlife photography taken at night, thanks to the technological advances of photographer George Shiras III, a pioneer of flash photography. And innovation emerged alongside photography as an equally critical force in our history.

In the 1940s, Harold “Doc” Edgerton’s invention of the stroboscope electronic flash made it possible to see motion on film, and later, he collaborated with National Geographic Explorer Jacques Cousteau to develop new techniques in underwater photography—one of many firsts attributed to our photographers and engineers.

Innovation is still critical to how we tell stories today. Anand Varma combines biology and technology to make the invisible visible in his California lab. On the other side of the planet, we move from the microscopic to the epic, as Renan Ozturk utilizes cutting-edge drone technology on the north side of Mount Everest to create an image of the peak that few of us could ever see on our own. And Reuben Wu helps us see Stonehenge—a historic site that first graced our pages in 1922 and has been photographed millions of times—in new ways.

United States, 2016Scientists use a fine mist created by ultrasonic foggers to visualize the airflow around the wing of an Anna’s hummingbird in flight. At the end of each half-stroke, its wings flip more than 90 degrees and reverse course. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can truly fly backward.

Photograph by Anand Varma

(How the spirit of ancient Stonehenge was captured with a 21st-century drone.)

Edgerton was quoted as saying, “Don’t make me out to be an artist. I am an engineer. I am after the facts. Only the facts.” And that’s just it. To this day, our visual storytellers embrace technology in service of the story.

But it’s not just how stories are presented that has evolved. Our aperture on who is a photographer has opened, with visual storytellers from diverse lived experiences sharing the stories that matter most to their communities. It isn’t said enough: Diversity fuels creativity.

Just as storytelling at National Geographic has changed radically since its publication launched in 1888, it will change radically again in the next 135 years. Although science fiction only foreshadows where technology will take us and how information will be shared, I firmly believe we must seize all that technology has to offer to propel our visual storytelling forward. Our future audiences will thank us.

But I hope one thing will remain constant for National Geographic editors of the future—the thing, perhaps, that drove Grosvenor to publish that first picture story in 1905 and pushed us more than a century later to take viewers kayaking with scientists in Antarctica through virtual reality: Aim for a story worth telling with innovative approaches and unmatched storytellers.

China, 2015A panda keeper in Wolong, Sichuan Province, dons a panda suit to perform a health check on a cub in an attempt to shelter the captive-bred bear from human presence in preparation for life in the wild. Labeled endangered in 1990, the panda’s wild population has almost doubled after 30 years of government recovery efforts.

Photograph by Ami Vitale

Russia, 2016Wearing a curtain and a cardboard crown, Kristina Khudi becomes the “tundra princess” in the Nenets camp near the Kara Sea. For centuries, reindeer herders in Russia’s Arctic have migrated 800 miles a year. But they now face modern obstacles in their long journey: climate change and a giant natural gas field.

Photograph by Evgenia Arbugaeva

Mexico, 2016In 2011, the Zetas cartel, inflamed by an American drug operation and seeking revenge against members believed to be informants, rampaged through Allende and neighboring towns near the Texas border, killing at least one hundred. For this stricken community, the Day of the Dead holiday, when Mexicans parade in honor of their ancestors, has taken on extra poignancy.

Photograph by Kirsten Luce

Spain, 2017Bold colors frame the eye of an Edward’s fig parrot, photographed at Loro Parque Fundación in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands. The striking forest dweller eats fruit (including figs), nectar, and possibly insects and is comfortable living near human settlements on its native island of New Guinea.

Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark

Iran, 2016Summertime bathers wade in the waters of Lake Urmia, now colored reddish pink by salt-loving bacteria and algae. Tourists from across Iran came for generations, but the number of visitors fell when the lake began to shrink in the 1980s. Recently, the lake level has had a resurgence, but it is now roughly half of its historic size.

Photograph by Newsha Tavakolian

Egypt, 2021Discovered a century ago, the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was filled with riches—including the royal mummy—unimaginable at the time. Carved into the quartzite stone sarcophagus surrounding the king’s coffins are four deities intended to protect the young pharaoh’s body.

Photograph by Paolo Verzone

Sudan, 2020The photographer planned to cover a wedding in the Red Sea Mountains but first had to find fuel. She lost her way, then once she was on the right path, rain began to pour. But as skies cleared and dancing began, each man competing for the highest leap, “I was reminded of how a place can reveal itself to you through the kindness of strangers—and a little luck.”

Photograph by Nichole Sobecki

United States, 2016Hunter Larry Lucas Kaleak listens for the sounds of passing bearded seals and bowhead whales in the vibrations of a skin boat’s wooden paddle in the water. The Indigenous Inupiat of Alaska spend weeks camping on Arctic sea ice, waiting for migrating whales. But as global warming accelerates ice melt, it threatens the tribe’s 4,000-year-old tradition.

Photograph by Kiliii Yuyan

Cook Islands, 2019A humpback cow and calf are joined by two males in the Cook Islands. Males escort females with calves in hopes that they will be the next ones to mate with the mothers. Calves emit soft, whisper-like squeaks. Adult males sing in low, guttural moans and high-pitched whoops and screeches.

Photograph by Brian Skerry

India, 2013In a shelter in Vrindavan, known as a “city of widows,” Lalita, right, bears the cropped hair and white wrap her culture once considered obligatory for widowhood. Shelter manager Ranjana, a much younger widow, is less constrained by traditional customs. The death of a husband can mean exile and abuse, but bereaved women are beginning to fight back.

Photograph by Amy Toensing

United States, 2017With California’s Yosemite Valley far below, Alex Honnold free solos—which means climbing without ropes or safety gear—the 3,000-foot southwest face of El Capitan. Before he accomplished the feat on June 3, 2017, Honnold had spent nearly a decade thinking about the climb and more than a year and a half planning and training for it.

Photograph by Jimmy Chin

Pakistan, 2011Mountaineers near the top of the 26,360-foot Gasherbrum II peak in the Karakoram Range at sunset. On their descent, the climbers, including the photographer, were buried by a grade 4 avalanche and narrowly escaped with their lives. The resulting trauma has inspired Cory Richards to speak compellingly about the importance of mental health.

Photograph by Cory Richards

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I would like to think of myself as a full time traveler. I have been retired since 2006 and in that time have traveled every winter for four to seven months. The months that I am "home", are often also spent on the road, hiking or kayaking. I hope to present a website that describes my travel along with my hiking and sea kayaking experiences.