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National Geographic photographs of women by women

What do photographs of women, taken by women, look like? In honor of International Women’s Day, March 8, I asked seven female National Geographic photographers to share an image they took that revealed a woman’s experience. In a world where gender equality is still elusive, these photographs tell stories of hope, bravery, hardship, and survival. Below, a photograph and the story by Maggie Steber. Read the full post here.

Philomene, Haiti, 1988. Photograph by Maggie Steber

Philomene was a schoolgirl in a small town called Beauchamps in the barren northwest of Haiti, where nothing grows except short mesquite trees. It is one of the largest charcoal-producing areas, and the overwhelming deforestation creates an impoverished landscape that beats people down. I photographed Philomene in 1988. By now she is a grown woman. In this photograph of her I see the great spirit and strength of the Haitian people. In Philomene’s face shines the pride in her country’s singular history as the first black republic in the world born of a successful slave revolt. She loved school and had determination to learn. I loved her dress, the tuft of her hair, and an air of possibility that surrounded her.

Haitian women are the ones who make Haiti run. They are the glue of this tiny nation, whether they are market women selling vegetables, charcoal, and used clothing, or middle-class and wealthier women running their own businesses or working as teachers or politicians. When a market woman walks down the street with a big basket or bucket of water balanced on her head, she walks like a queen. I saw this same thing in Philomene, a queen in the making.

The hope of Haiti’s future is in children. A hardscrabble life either crushes them or makes them stronger, and in this case, it made Philomene stronger. She held her head up high, even if she was poor. At least she could read, write, and add numbers. When I show my work on Haiti, I always end with Philomene because in her face is represented all the hope and dreams of a nation. And of women everywhere.—Maggie Steber

#Maggie_Steber #National_Geographic #Women #Photography #IWD #IWD2015 #Womens_Day

Women on Women from the Fraction Archive

In celebration of International Women's Day, I combed the 71 issues of Fraction Magazine for photographs of women taken by women photographers. Whether it is a sister, daughter, friend or stranger, do we see ourselves differently from male photographers? These portraits spoke to me both in the strength of the image and the strength of the female subjects. The photographs are funny, traditional, beautiful or uncomfortable, and show women in powerful ways, either directly engaged with the photographer, or reflective and introspective. Seen through the lenses of thirty different female photographers these portraits capture intimate familial bonds, brooding adolescence, young sexuality, the strength of motherhood, and the dignity of old age.

Above, a photograph by Rachel Barrett. See the full collection, from Fraction, here.

#Fraction_Magazine #Photography #Rachel_Barrett #IWD #IWD2015 #Womens_Day #Women

Love + National Geographic

This Valentine's Day I asked eight National Geographic photographers to share their images that captured love. Below, Jim Richardson writes on his image from a Silk Factory in Khotan, Xinjiang, China, 1989. Read more at: http://bit.ly/1AiAfzL.

It’s been a quarter century since the day I spied on these girls. A long time since this moment came and went. It’s a love letter, of course. (Do I need to tell you that?) They should have been working. I am almost certain that the woman on the far left, just a vague blur in this photo, is coming to shoo them back to work, to carp at them in the way older people do, when they are resentful that the delirious love of youth will never be theirs again. The young man who wrote the letter is either very handsome or very clever—or both—and dashing, probably, in the way that Uyghur men out on the Silk Road in western China can be. (Did he say he would wait for her that night, out on the oasis street flanked for miles by tall poplar trees that tame the desert winds?) The young women are older by now. There are children. Perhaps there are grandchildren. Thousands of days (and nights) have come and gone. Perhaps they now look back on this moment of giddy love as naive and impetuous and reckless. But what other kind of love is there, that makes any sense? - Jim Richardson

#Love #ValentinesDay #JimRichardson #nationalgeographic #photography

Proof: Pictures We Love

As an end of the year tribute the Proof Blog asked the National Geographic photo team to reflect on their favorite photograph from 2014. I wrote about the above archival picture from “In the Loupe,” which appeared in the October issue of the magazine. Click here to read more about why I chose the photograph, and what was revealed through archivist, Bill Bonner's loupe. See more editor selects from Pictures We Love, here.

PHOTOGRAPH BY UPI/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE

#National_Geographic #In_the_Loupe #Bill_Bonner #Photography #Archival

¡Cuba Libre!

A fortuitous journey!

#Cuba #Instagram

Does Instagram Change the Meaning of Memories?

Very excited to have my Instagrams accompany A.D. Coleman's essay in the January issue of MIT Technology Review.

#Instagram #ADColeman #MIT #MITTechnologyreview #Photography

at Ankida Ridge Vineyards

#Donkey #AnkidaRidgeVineyard #Instagram

Beautiful day in the archive looking at #OlgaFiano’s old school climbing pics from the 1920s in the Italian Alps. #BillBonner (at National Geographic)

#billbonner #olgafiano #NationalGeographic #Photography #Instagram

Happy Thanksgiving From Ghent, NY

#Thanksgiving #Ghent #Horses #Deer #Stars #Snow Instagram

National Geographic Photographers Give Thanks

This Thanksgiving I asked ten National Geographic Photographers to share an image that they were especially thankful for having taken – one that had perhaps changed the way they thought about something, or had a large impact on the trajectory of their career. Below is the moving image and story John Stanmeyer shared. See more photographs, and read the stories behind them all on National Geographic's Proof Blog.

A wall of water 100 feet tall inundated the village of Lampuuk in northern Sumatra on December 26, 2004. When the ocean receded, the only structure remaining was this mosque. Some called it mystical, others fate. 7,000 residents once called Lampuuk home. In this photograph are the thankful few who survived, saying evening prayers while fires still smoldered in the devastated landscape through the shattered walls of this holy place. I learned a great deal during many months covering this tragedy, a disaster where there was no one to blame. Such events solidifying how precious our time is, reminding us how astonishingly alive is our earth, how nature gives but also takes, and how important it is for all of us to to hold sacred this gifted period we have to do something, no matter how grand or small. Each day I’m thankful for the simple act of waking up and putting my feet on the ground. One day I won’t. Accepting and thankful for whatever time I’ll be given, hoping I am humble enough, thankful as surely these women and men who went on to dream and live another day.

Vignettes from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, Aceh, Indonesia. Photograph by John Stanmeyer/VII for National Geographic.

#Thanksgiving #JohnStanmeyer #NationalGeographic #Photography #Lampuuk #Aceh #Indonesia #Tsunami