The 21st Century: Photographs from the Image Collection by National Geographic (TLC Book Tours)

 

Do you love looking at beautiful photographs?  I know I do.  The 21^st Century is a wonderful collection of images from the National Geographic Society.    The photographic archives of the National Geographic Society holds tens of millions of images including 11.5 million physical objects in their vault and 50 million on their digital servers as told by Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg in the foreword.  She also has an interesting tidbit that there were no photographs in the first few issues of the National Geographic magazine when it was first printed in 1888.  When pictures were first put into the magazine, a few individuals resigned from the board as they thought it was so low brow.

 The goal of this book is to show our “shared history told through photography” of the last twenty years.  The start of the century has National Geographic photographer Robert Clark’s iconic images of the World Trade Center being hit.  These photographs will give me a punch in the gut no matter how many times I see them.  I loved the quotes from the photographers on why photography is important to them such as “Photography is a weapon against what’s wrong out there.  It’s bearing witness to the truth.” – Brent Stirton.

 This book is split into four chapters, each covering approximately five years starting in 2000 and ending in 2021.  The book is coffee table book size and has beautiful glossy pictures.  The pictures are from around the world of nature, ordinary people, and some historic events or people.  Pope Francis has an iconic picture at the start of the book.  Each picture has a short description with the photographer, year, and place.  I also like the “through the lens” sections that are interspersed through the book with thoughts from the photographer about the picture that they took.  There are brief bios of all of the photographers at the end of the book.

 Overall, The 21^st Century:  Photographs from the Image Collection by National Geographic is a beautiful book full of gorgeous images.  I find it relaxing to peruse through them and it’s a wonderful book to look out for company to share.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Hachette Book Group for being a part of the TLC Book Tour.  Thank-you.  I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.