Photograph by Lynsey Addario, National Geographic
On a bridge over the Tigris a man feeds gulls at dawn as water taxis await the morning's first passengers.
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Photograph by Lynsey Addario, National Geographic
On a bridge over the Tigris a man feeds gulls at dawn as water taxis await the morning's first passengers.
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Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Sunlight dapples the shoulders of Algonquin and Wright, two of the more than 40 so-called High Peaks that rise above 4,000 feet. Once blighted by logging and industry, the region has undergone a renaissance of woods and waters.
Photograph by Chien-Chi Chang, National Geographic
A monk walks a dusty road in Bagan, the ancient capital of Myanmar (Burma) and a sight to rival Cambodia's Angkor Wat. The area once held 13,000 pagodas dating back to the second century A.D., many built of brick that was plastered and painted. Earthquakes and the Ayeyarwady River destroyed more than 10,000 of them.
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Photograph by Jim Richardson, National Geographic
A Welsh pig loiters like one of the guys outside a farming exhibit at St. Fagan National History Museum, near Cardiff, Wales. Bred for a specific body shape that provides optimal cuts of meat, these pigs are also prized for their hardy but gentle natures, which make them well-suited to living around humans.
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
On the trail to Goodnow Mountain, a yellow birch appears to be ingesting a boulder left behind by a glacier. With its tenacious trees and rebounding wildlife, Adirondack Park is a miracle of regeneration. Committed advocates and legal protections written into New York s state constitution offer hope that it will remain forever wild.
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Photograph by Brent Stirton, National Geographic
Their hands stained by the indigo dye in their new clothes, Tuareg women celebrate a birth. Tuareg females rarely cover their faces, while men traditionally wear turbans that conceal all but their eyes.
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Photograph by Jimmy Chin, National Geographic
"It feels like I'm hovering in space," says Dean Potter, perched on a highline above Yosemite Falls. Gusting winds and blinding mist make it tough to balance on the inch-thick rope 2,600 feet above the valley, but a tether attached to his waist protects him from disaster.
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Photograph by David Doubilet, National Geographic
Tomtate grunts and yellowtail snapper swim through Neptune Memorial Reef, an underwater cemetery with decorative arches and columns installed on the ocean floor off Miami Beach. The cremated remains of about 200 people have been mixed with cement and molded into memorial sculptures.
Photograph by Stefano Unterthiner, National Geographic
Are these the monkeys' mothers? Not always. Langurs often share babysitting duties within a close-knit group of females and their offspring. The young are born with thin dark fur that turns thick and grayish gold after a few months.
Photograph by Brent Stirton, National Geographic
Evening winds stir the robes of a Tuareg striding across Algeria s Tassili-n-Ajjer.
Photograph by Brent Stirton, National Geographic
Evening winds stir the robes of a Tuareg striding across Algeria s Tassili-n-Ajjer.
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
The palette of the Adirondack forest shifts with the seasons. In the delicate tracery of a viburnum leaf, summer s green gives way to autumn s red as chlorophyll fades and underlying pigments emerge.
Photograph by Thomas P. Peschak
Since gaining legal protection in the 1970s, Steller sea lions in British Columbian and neighboring waters have tripled in population to about 30,000 during the summer breeding season.
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Morning fog shrouds the surface of Bear Pond and the valleys below St. Regis Mountain.
Photograph by Chien-Chi Chang, National Geographic
Lighting a sea of candles, Burmese pay homage to their ancestors during Thadingyut, the three-day festival of lights in October marking the end of the Buddhist equivalent of Lent.
Photograph by Lynsey Addario, National Geographic
Moviegoers at Baghdad's first 4-D cinema get an extra thrill from shaking seats and wind machines during a 3-D sci-fi film. During the worst years of violence, families stayed home to watch TV or DVDs. Most cinemas closed, as did this one, though it has plans to expand and reopen.
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Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic
What a scared orphan elephant needs more than anything is other elephants. The process of becoming socialized begins as soon as the worst injuries heal.
Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic
What a scared orphan elephant needs more than anything is other elephants. The process of becoming socialized begins as soon as the worst injuries heal.
Photograph by Jonas Bendiksen, National Geographic
When the river floods, the children of Jabed Ali know what to do: Climb the bamboo macha in the front yard and hold on tight. Char dwellers, who inhabit the constantly changing islands, or chars, on the floodplains of Bangladesh 's three major rivers, are used to such calamities, which are on the increase.
Photograph by George Steinmetz, National Geographic
That's Cleopatra on the left side of a wall at a temple at Dendera one of the few images that bear her name. She is shown fulfilling her role as pharaoh by making offerings to the gods. The appearance here of her son by Julius Caesar is propaganda aimed at strengthening his position as her heir. He was captured and executed shortly after her demise.
Photograph by Vincent J. Musi, National Geographic
This herding family has been tending livestock in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent for a century. The countryside where they herd, on the slopes of Karaca Da , is just 60 miles from the archaeological site of G bekli Tepe, where geneticists believe one variety of modern wheat was first domesticated. Sheep and goat were also domesticated in this region.
Photograph by Abelardo Morell
As vivid as a dream, a hypersharp image of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan materializes above tousled sheets. To make the surreal picture, Morell essentially put his camera inside a room serving as a camera and kept his shutter open for five hours to expose on film the incoming image. He used a prism to flip the projection right-side up. "View of the Brooklyn Bridge in Bedroom," 2009
Photograph by Chien-Chi Chang
Rowing with their legs to leave their hands free, graceful fishermen on northern Inle Lake in Myanmar (Burma) appeal to tourists wanting to see a land untouched by modernity.
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Photograph by Paul Nicklen, National Geographic
A mother of two cubs climbs a Pacific crab apple tree to grab its tart and tiny fruit. In years when autumn salmon numbers are low, the bears must find other food, such as wild berries, lupine roots, and mussels.
Photograph by Peter Essick, National Geographic
The ruins of an ancient village submerged by the construction of a hydroelectric dam resurface when lake levels are low. The park's man-made attractions range from medieval castles and pilgrimage sites to modern resorts.
Photograph by Stephanie Sinclair, National Geographic
Nujood Ali was ten when she fled her abusive, much older husband and took a taxi to the courthouse in Sanaa, Yemen . The girl's courageous act and the landmark legal battle that ensued turned her into an international heroine for women's rights. Now divorced, she is back home with her family and attending school again.
Photograph by Peter Essick, National Geographic
A blend of wilderness and civilization, Portugal's Peneda-Gerês National Park faces a tricky challenge: protecting nature while accommodating people.
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Photograph by Jim Richardson, National Geographic
Relying on a small number of food crops is risky, as Irish farmers discovered when the Lumper potato succumbed to blight, resulting in the great Irish potato famine that began in 1845 (memorialized in Dublin above).
Photograph by Greg Girard, National Geographic
A coal yard in northern China comes with a Buddha. Coal reserves could run low in a few decades, making green energy in China a must.
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Photograph by Thomas P. Peschak
Purple sea stars and eelgrass flourish in the waters off the coast of British Columbia.
Photograph by Lynsey Addario, National Geographic
Pilgrims visit Al Kazimiyah Shrine, a Shiite holy site relatively unharmed by the years of violence.
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Photograph by Frans Lanting, National Geographic
Over thousands of years winds have sculpted sand in the Namib Desert into some of the world's tallest dunes, colored red by iron oxide. The sand contains just enough moisture to sustain a few hardy plants. Not far from this dune, one called Big Daddy looms 1,200 feet above the desert floor.
Photograph by Peter Essick, National Geographic
Windowpane clear and bracingly cold, the Homem River and other swimming spots draw thousands of visitors to Peneda-Ger s on summer weekends. The seasonal invasion challenges the park's year-round residents and wildlife.