Preview of Special 125th-Anniversary Photography Issue of National Geographic

New digital story-telling to be featured in Sept. 4 session at 25th Visa pour l’image


WASHINGTON — A panel of world-renowned photographers and editors will preview the October 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine at Visa pour l’image, the international photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France.

Celebrating the power of photography, this special 125th-anniversary issue showcases some of the best work of today’s photographers, and this session will focus on motivations that drive these photographers. Two photographers featured in the upcoming issue, Marcus Bleasdale of VII Photo and David Guttenfelder of the Associated Press, will discuss their work on conflict minerals and North Korea.

Brent Stirton of Getty Reportage and Michael “Nick” Nichols of National Geographic will elaborate on recent in-depth coverage of Africa’s Serengeti lions and the tensions between lions and people. Stirton also will discuss recent award-winning work highlighting the global industry in illegal elephant ivory.

Panelists will address why they pursue a career as photojournalists, and how they see their work making a difference in a networked world awash in images.

Leading off the discussion with a preview of the upcoming photography issue will be Sarah Leen, National Geographic’s director of photography for the magazine. Leen is curator of a major exhibition celebrating 125 years of National Geographic, opening Oct. 26 at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, California. Pamela Chen, a senior photo editor at National Geographic with extensive expertise in multimedia, video and social networking, will moderate.

Chen will present a dramatic, video-based online feature — The Serengeti Lion— discuss digital publishing and preview National Geographic’s photography blog, coming this fall, which foreshadows a new approach to the web.

The panel was organized by Dennis Dimick, National Geographic’s environment editor and 2013 recipient of the U.S. National Press Photographers Association Sprague Award for outstanding service to photojournalism.

The session “National Geographic at 125: The Power of Photography,” will be held at Charles Trenet Auditorium in Palais des Congrès in Perpignan, France, from 12:30 to 14:30 on Wednesday, Sept. 4. It is free and open to the public and will be in English only.

About National Geographic

National Geographic magazine is the official journal of the National Geographic Society, one of the world’s largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Published in English and 39 local-language editions, the magazine has a global circulation of around 8 million. It is sent each month to National Geographic members and is available on newsstands for $5.99 a copy. Single copies can be ordered by calling (800) NGS-LINE, also the number to call for membership to the Society.