National Geographic: Reality or Myth?.
The use of photography in National Geographic magazine is an attempt.
to document what is happening around the world. A photographers task is to study .
culture and then translate their observations through visual imagery. Viewers must .
transcend their representational evidence of actual, specific human beings .
and their behaviours; the goal is to come to an understanding of differing cultural .
ways. It is a practice, which like ethnography itself, adds to our existing knowledge .
of the many differing cultures of our world. As human beings, we do not know .
what it is to be another human being, nor do we know a culture as we know our .
own. We have gained understanding of other cultures through the media, such as .
those articles and photographs found in National Geographic. The pictorial images .
capture the reader's attention, inviting them to imagine how they might feel in the setting .
depicted (Lutz, Collins, page 3). What do the photographs signify? Are they true .
reflections of each culture? Does the magazine idealize and render exotic third-world .
peoples, with a tendency to downplay or erase evidence of poverty and violence? (Lutz, .
Collins, page13). I will prove, through my examination of the articles and photographs.
in National Geographic magazine, that sexuality, gender and colour are important factors .
in the struggle for social progress. .
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National Geographic illustrates what the photographers, journalists, and editors.
want us to know about the world. They only chose pictures that are simple and eye-.
catching. I believe that in some cases these photographs are used to manipulate the .
reader. The article, "In Somalia's Hour of Need," is about Somalia and the struggles .
the people face living in one of the poorest nations. This article immediately grabbed .
my attention; the emotions evoked by this article are intense. It tells how the Somalis .
