Women of Vision: National Geographic Photographers on Assignment

The best photographers are great storytellers.
Behind their camera, they must
capture moments of utmost brevity, where
time and place, lightness and dark, character and
environment cross paths at a seamless and transitory
juncture. Among cacophonous crowds,
deeply sensitive natural or human circumstances,
unfamiliar territory and unpredictable situations,
photographers integrate with their surroundings
and pluck the defining moments left dangling in
time and place right out of the atmosphere with
the click of a button.

To use a profoundly ridiculous metaphor
(which is often the best way to think about
things), the hair-trigger accuracy and rigorous
focus required of a photojournalist on assignment
is comparable to a marksman hitting only
small red clay pigeons while multiple flying
targets of every size and color are coming at
him from every direction, while he is walking
through a noisy, crowded plaza and answering
questions from every curious bystander asking
him the purpose of what he is doing.

From this chaos, photojournalists, like those
who work for the National Geographic Society,
bring us memorable stories from around the
world full of stunning insights and surprises that
could often never be expressed with words.

Another truly remarkable thing about photography
is its neutralizing effect on authorship.
You cannot look at a photograph and tell whether
it was taken by a woman or a man—you cannot
discern the color of the photographer’s skin, their
age, background or religion. All you can know
and appraise is the image, and that effect is a
refreshing and admirable lens to the world.

“Women of Vision: National Geographic
Photographers on Assignment,” on view at the
National Geographic Museum through March
9, offers audiences a collection of photographs
by a new generation of female photojournalists
who approach their subjects with a passion and
compassion that lives in each image. The exhibit
features the work of eleven photographers, and
though the subject matter could not be more varied,
it is woven together by the marvel of visual
storytelling that has come to define National
Geographic’s unprecedented legacy.

Among the photographers featured, many
have managed to penetrate aspects of society
that a male photographer could never
access. Stephanie Sinclair spent years working
on assignment in Iraq and Lebanon, bringing
attention to gender and human rights issues,
especially the emotional and physical abuse
faced by young girls in many societies in this
region. Images from her decade-long project
on child marriage, “Too Young to Wed,” some
on view in this exhibit, have been shown at the
United Nations and garnered multiple awards.
Her exploration of the Fundamentalist Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is also eye
opening, as she explored the female perspective
of polygamous households and the unique relationships
involved therein.

Similarly, Lynsey Addario’s series on women
in Afghanistan are deeply moving, from female
police officers at target practice, some of whom
joined the force after losing their husband in
service, to a young girl who tried to burn herself
alive to escape her potential future of abusive
marriage, poverty and the stress of war.

Kitra Cahana has done unique work exploring
the often journalistically neglected culture of
women in society, even here in the United States.
Her portrait of a teenage girl in Austin, Texas
offers an intimate glimpse into the isolation of
a young woman’s growing pains, even among
the starry, warm lights of her bustling cultural
metropolis.

From the elegant landscapes of the Mongolian
steppes and American West to war torn battlefields
of Iraq and Afghanistan, from the last great
wildernesses of Africa to the lives of people from
the Arctic to the Jersey Shore, the stories these
photographers tell explore modern realities and
what it means to be human in the 21st Century.
With more than 100 images and multimedia, this
exhibition profiles the lives and work of these
important photojournalists. As an audience we
marvel at the mystery in the everyday and recognize
the dearly familiar in the remotest places.
Their images live beyond the page and transform
the world we know.