Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Photographs from the magazine show landscapes, cultures, and wildlife from around the world.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

One of the more significant photographic art surveys published in recent years. The introduction by editor and curator Livingston is an excellent synopsis of the photographer's role during The National Geographic magazine's history as it paralleled the growth of photography. Many photographers were relatively unknown to the larger world of photography owing to restrictions and commitments imposed by the Society. All the book's photographs were chosen from the Society's archives, but approximately half are published for the first time, and many are reproduced as originally conceived by the photographer. Only the photographer, location, and date are presented beneath the image. For most of the magazine's history, the photograph was intended as illustration, not art. In this volume photographs are viewed out of context--to be appreciated and savored for individual style, content, and photographic language. In this magnificent book of beautifully reproduced plates and sensitive design, one looks at each of 299 photographs as art. Highly recommended as an adjunct to one's National Geographic collection as an important photography book and as a unique art book. P. Laytin Fitchburg State College

Booklist Review

A portfolio of the aesthetically most distinguished photos taken for, but not necessarily published in, the yellow-bordered library staple proffers documentary photography at its most sublime. [BKL N 15 88]