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THESE PHOTOS FLIP A PREVAILING VIEW OF THE WORLD

Saturday, March 11, 2023

In today’s newsletter, we see the Flying Cholitas of Bolivia, cheer on women rodeo performers, splash with Sun City synchronized swimmers ... and rescue mustangs in Texas. Plus, why do ‘atmospheric rivers’ keep pouring down on California?

Women wrestling in Bolivia

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUISA DÖRR

The editors of the new photo book What We See say 85% of the world’s photojournalists are men. What does that mean about the way our visual historical record has been recorded?

The book aims to provide a little balance. It features the work of 100 women and nonbinary documentary photographers over the past half century.

We're featuring a few of those photographers who work for Nat Geo. They include Luisa Dörr, who made the photo (above) of two Indigenous women in traditional clothing wrestling in Bolivia. “At first, I was fascinated by the skill,” she says. “But then I saw it went beyond the ring. They are fighting for their rights, for recognition, for equality.”

See Dörr’s work on the Bolivian wrestlers and on women skateboarders.

Please consider getting our digital report and magazine by subscribing here.

A woman looking in a handheld mirror

PHOTOGRAPH BY YAGAZIE EMEZI

Trying new things: Photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Yagazie Emezi created a series of portraits featuring a woman on a journey of retraced steps and disovery. Emezi explored “what happens when we leave the old for the new, what is left, and what is taken.”

More work by Emazi: How women are remaking Rwanda

Women cheerleaders

PHOTOGRAPH BY NATALIE KEYSSAR

Surreal: Photographer Natalie Keyssar followed a cheerleading team in Venezuela during the height of an economic crisis. She portrayed them performing at a bitcoin conference in a luxury hotel when some of them didn’t have enough to eat. “These women taught me about the connection between joy and resilience, the power of sisterhood, and the value of talent,” Keyssar says.

Her work for Nat Geo has ranged from California’s female rodeo performers to a New York street where more than 300 languages are spoken.

Two women hugging

PHOTOGRAPH BY KHOLOOD EID

Above us, only sky: Photographer Kholood Eid sought uplift in this portrait of two sisters who had experienced child sexual abuse. "I did not want the survivors I photographed to appear sinister in any way, which can easily happen when the goal is anonymity. I wanted to honor the tenderness and courage I see in those who trust us enough to let us in.”

More work by Eid: Afghan refugees are finding a warm welcome in small-town America

Members of the Sun City Aqua Suns

PHOTOGRAPH BY KENDRICK BRINSON

Learning on the job: Photographer Kendrick Brinson was inspired when documenting groups in the vast Sun City, Arizona, retirement community, such as the synchronized swimming group (above), moments before a holiday reindeer routine in the pool. “I have learned about the joy of doing things that make me feel good and that I do not necessarily have to be the best at them, or even good at them." See more from Sun City.

STORIES WE'RE FOLLOWING

A woman with horses

PHOTOGRAPH BY BALAZS GARDI

Racehorses on dinner plates? Investigation finds drug-filled horses shipped across borders to be harvested for their meat

Related: Trying to rescue wild mustangs (above, volunteer Hillary Novak with a rescued mustang herd in Bowie, Texas)

Swearing can be good—and chimps do it, too

Yes, Americans ARE moving their clocks forward this coming weekend

A clue to a mysterious disease: It starts in the gut

Lower (or heighten) your risk of disease with these foods

Is this the tomb of Jesus?

These are 'atmospheric rivers'—and they keep flooding California

These women risked everything to be the first to fly

Why endometriosis is common, incredibly painful—and often misdiagnosed

The bold, loyal, and scandalous sister of Napoleon Bonaparte

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

A male Dorylus mayri ant from West Africa

PHOTOGRAPH BY EDUARD FLORIN NIGA

Close up: Fuzzy and furry aren't typical words used to describe ants, but these up close and personal images from photographer Eduard Florin Niga reveal otherwise. (Pictured is a male Dorylus mayri from West Africa.)

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A photograph of a woman topless

PHOTOGRAPH BY ERIKA LARSEN

Portrait in courage: At age 29, Margaret (pictured) had a double mastectomy as a precaution against cancer. She's a mother and a wife who chose not to reconstruct after the surgery.

Margaret did choose, however, to be vulnerable with photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Erika Larsen.

"She told me part of her healing process had been making herself vulnerable and nothing had made her feel more comfortable with being vulnerable than allowing herself to be photographed topless," Larsen writes for Nat Geo.

LAST GLIMPSE

Harriet Chalmers Adams

PHOTOGRAPH FROM NATIONAL PHOTO COMPANY COLLECTION, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

On the job: One of Nat Geo’s earliest contributors, Harriet Chalmers Adams (1875-1937), traveled all around the world during a 30-year career with the magazine.

A feminist, writer, photographer, and explorer, Adams (pictured above) covered 40,000 miles in Latin America via canoe, foot, and train. She traversed Haiti on horseback. She was the first female journalist allowed to explore the French trenches during World War I.

“I’ve wondered why men have so absolutely monopolized the field of exploration. … I’ve never found my sex a hinderment,” Adams wrote.

EXPLORE WITH HARRIET

Today’s soundtrack: I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory, Kathleen Edwards

This newsletter has been curated and edited by David Beard, Hannah Farrow, and Jen Tse. Amanda Williams-Bryant, Alisher Egamov, Rita Spinks, and Jeremy Brandt-Vorel also contributed this week. Special thanks this week to Women Photograph and to its first book. Thanks for reading!

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