National Geographic - October 2013 - 125th Anniversary Collector's Edition

Well, I'm pleased I got this issue.  And annoyed I no longer have the original June 1985 edition.  Over the past twenty-odd years, NG has given me a lot of pleasure and inspiration, and this special edition did not disappoint!

In every edition, there is too much to comment on specifically, it is all fascinating, each month.  This month we were treated to some Salgado images, reinforcing the concept that photographers are in fact explorers (can't wait to turn pro and put that on my profile/resume!!!), and Salgado is of course no exception. With Salgado, I particularly like the use of monochrome, it adds atmostphere and a sense of timelessness.

NG also puts forward the idea that photography can be weapon, which of course is true.  On one hand, if you think about the example of the paparazzi and ultimately the effect on Princess Diana's life, then yes photography is an obvious weapon.  But it is also a weapon used to great effect when speaking out about what's wrong with the world and the damage we have done to it.  One example given by NG is the stunning image of the Ahmadi Oil field, Kuwait by Steve McCurry (who also took the iconic Afghan Girl cover shot for NG in 1985).  In this month, NG used photography as a weapon against precious mineral exploitation in the Congo and depicted the harrowing impact on children's lives.

Taking the idea of photography being a weapon to the next level, in this edition, NG go on to descibe that photography provides indisputable evidence: impact of human activity on wildlife and retreating glaciers.  The glacier photographs are of course stunning, but they are also trying to make a point.

The two pictures though that really struck me in this edition though were used in the section of the magazine describing how images are used to reveal things we may never fully understand.  Firstly this image by Randy Olson of Churchgate Station in Mumbai India really stood out.  I really like the symmetrical composition, the converging perspective forming a triangle and the blurred activity.  But it also reminds me of Waterloo station in rush hour, when two trains come into adjacent platforms...

Churchgate Station, Mumbai India (c) Randy Olson

The second image I really liked (of the new ones) was this one taken in North Korea, by David Guttenfelder:

Traffic Guard, Pyongyang (c) David Guttenfelder

It's ironic (good twist in Street Photography terms), traffic guard with no traffic, but also the again, limited colour palette (with red accents), the blurred areas, lots of leading lines, converging perspective and empty spaces are really effective.  You get a really good sense also of the socialist style architecture of North Korea.

I haven't mentioned all the purposes of photography that NG describes in this edition, but the final one that is important to me is the concept of "protect": photography is a medium used to raise awareness and look after nature.  And in this article, the tension between keeping animals we most want to see, or keeping animals we may never see again is discussed.

Just look at this:

Florida Panther (c) Joel Sartore

There are only 165 Florida panthers left.  How can that be possible?  And until I read that article, I didn't realise that they were so endangered

And I think that that for me is the real point of photography: information.  The appeal of the visual is used to give people information.  We are drawn to pictures more than words - the impact is immediate, and that is why photography (and the work NG does) is so important.