Focus on Arts and Ecology

By National Graphic, Friday, October 2, 2020

PHOTOGRAPH BY MAX AGUILERA-HELLWEG, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC


By Whitney Johnson, Director of Visual and Immersive Experiences

You may have to dig deep, but there are two common threads in our picks for best Nat Geo photos of the summer.

In a summer unlike any other, these images show determination to persevere through immense challenges. A few even offer a scintilla of hope in a world that remains awe-inspiring and beautiful.

The photographers behind them showed ingenuity and creativity to capture the majesty of Everest or to picture halos in the desert. Above, photographer Max Aguilera-Hellweg shows a Louisiana physician masked up and strapped in to confront 2020’s mass killer, COVID-19.

PHOTOGRAPH BY WAYNE LAWRENCE, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

‘Love in action’: Photographer Wayne Lawrence sought to explain August’s “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks” commitment march against police violence in August in Washington, D.C. Said attendee Schcola Chambers (above): “It was important to me that I become part of history. And [to] show my grandkids and their grandkids that this is love in action.”


PHOTOGRAPH BY DIANA MARKOSIAN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

After a wildfire: In Oregon, Diana Markosian showed this burnt pickup truck, covered by fire retardant, among the remains of a mobile home park in the town of Talent in the southern part of the state.


PHOTOGRAPH BY KATHY ANDERSON, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

The mural behind the altar was spared: Marsh cane and mud from Hurricane Laura’s storm surge were strewn across the pews of St. Eugene Catholic Church in Grand Chenier, Louisiana. As the land sinks and seas rise in Louisiana, the waters of the Gulf of Mexico are seeping closer and closer to communities.


PHOTOGRAPH BY MÉLANIE WENGER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Transporting a zebra: A sedated zebra is lifted by a helicopter at a ranch called Sexy Whitetails, near San Angelo, Texas. The wildness and heft of exotic hoofed wildlife make them difficult to corral and move, which has led to a lucrative subsector: transportation.


PHOTOGRAPH BY RENAN OZTURK, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

The ultimate panorama: Photographer Renan Ozturk used specially modified drones to capture Mount Everest and its surrounding peaks in awesome 360-degree panoramas. Ozturk operated a drone from Camp I on Everest’s North Col to complete this image.


PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY REUBEN WU

And the halos: Photographer Reuben Wu programmed lit drones to circle above Utah’s Yant Flat sandstone formations, then combined several long exposures into this composite image. The effect? A bit of wonder.

See the rest of our best photographs of the summer here

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