The icons of National Geographic

Work by Frans Lanting, Steve McCurry, David Doubilet, Michael Yamashita, Joel Sartore, Jodi Cobb, Michael Nichols, Chris Johns, Annie Griffiths and Paul Nicklen can be seen in a large format. The quality of the photos cannot be questioned. But there’s more: the photos selected evoke emotions like amazement, poignancy, admiration and awe. Some are absolutely intriguing, like the photo of the young mud men in New Guinea by photographer Jodi Cobb. What’s this photo about? What’s going on here? It’s apparently an annual festival featuring male beauty. A photo and a background story that of course attune perfectly with the Tropenmuseum.

Dutch photographer

Frans Lanting is the only Dutch photographer in this group. He has become very well known for his impressive nature photos. ‘When I’m balancing in a tree top in the thunder and lightening or when I’m besieged by a swarm of wasps, then I’m in my element. This is a clear indication that as a nature photographer I’ve exchanged civilization for the world of my subjects.’ Who realizes just what is involved in photographing the colourful macaws in their natural environment? To reach their habitat, the tree canopy of the Andes, a 25-metre-high scaffold had to be built. That meant transporting an enormous load of building materials through the jungle to achieve this. Then at a height of 25 metres (approx. 80 feet) it was teeming with insects that sting. It became really dangerous when it then began to thunder and lighten and just in time, Lanting realized that the scaffold acted as a fantastic lightening conductor. Fortunately all went well!