In Focus National Geographic Greatest Photographs

by Society, National; Allard, William; Johns, Chris; Abell, Sam

• ISBN13: 9780792273639
• ISBN10: 079227363X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-01
• Publisher: National Geographic

Summary

The Making of In Focus: Selecting 150 photographs out of the more than ten million in National Geographic’s archive has been daunting and joyful simultaneously. The archive houses vivid photographs of people everywhere on earth, across more than a century, including very new photographs taken almost as recently as last week. But the task of creating In Focus involved more than choosing interesting pictures. In creating this book we faced huge and basic questions starting with—What is a portrait? Everybody who worked with us raised this question. At one time a portrait involved a self-conscious collaboration between a photographer and a sitter. But for decades photographers have been able to work the streets to capture fleeting behavior. Skilled photojournalists make pictures that are remarkably affecting, but are they portraits? Some say a portrait is successful if it reveals character, but this is a tall order. Is it ever really possible to fill it? A person is far too complex to be revealed in any single instant. A suggestive glimpse is probably all we can ever hope for. We knew that, finally, we wanted to simply fill this book with great and unforgettable pictures of people everywhere. We want viewers to be able to open their hearts to the truths and fantasies of photography, as we have been able to do in our search through the enormous collections here. In Focus is divided into five chapters, each covering, on average, two decades—an era in world history and photographic style. The chapters are introduced with brief essays by working photographers. Their words tell us about the challenges and seductions of portraiture from both behind the lens and in front of it. Each chapter is, all by itself, a portrait of the world at a special time. Working out the challenges we faced on this project we arrived at a book that encompasses layers of history, features both unique individuals and whole cultures, considers basic questions about what a good portrait is in the first place, and all the while offers page after page of stunning pictures. I haven’t seen another book like this one and I’m really excited about it.

Author Biography

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC is one of the world’s leading nonfiction publishers, proudly supporting the work of scientists, explorers, photographers, and authors, as well as publishing a diverse list of books that celebrate the world and all that is in it. National Geographic Books creates and distributes print and digital works that inspire, entertain, teach, and give readers access to a world of discovery and possibility on a wide range of nonfiction subjects from animals to travel, cartography to history, fun facts to moving stories. A portion of all National Geographic proceeds is used to fund exploration, conservation, and education through ongoing contributions to the work of the National Geographic Society.