Photograph by H. Armstrong Roberts
Photographer H. Armstrong Roberts captured this image of women sharing a conversation along the Loire River in Saumur, France, in 1928. Set in the Loire Valley, the city in western France is surrounded by vineyards and is home to several impressive chateaus.
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Photograph by Tian-yu Xiong , National Geographic Your Shot
Clouds roll in over Shanghai, one of the fastest growing megacities in the world. Just a modest fishing town a century and a half ago, China's most populous city is a free-spending capital regarded as one of the world's most desirable markets.
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Photograph by Volkmar K. Wentzel, National Geographic
A jam-packed cable car clacks over steep cobbled streets, bringing Lisboans downtown from Bairro Alto, the High Quarter, in 1965. The quarter's multistoried 17th-century buildings were once the city's tallest. The small vintage trams still operate today, navigating tight turns past markets, restaurants, and churches, sometimes getting caught in traffic jams.
Get an insider's take on Lisbon » Click through more of Wentzel's photography » Learn more about Wentzel's contributions to National Geographic »
Photograph by Thomas J. Abercrombie, National Geographic
This photograph of a bustling street scene ran in the April 1958 issue of National Geographic in a story by Thomas J. Abercrombie about "Young-old Lebanon." The caption read, in part: "For variety, few cities can match Lebanon's bustling capital. Part Christian, part Moslem, Beirut combines East and West, ancient and modern. Contrasts stand out vividly in street scenes such as this on the Rue Georges Picot. A sign over the blouse shop shows the cedar, Lebanon's national symbol. The market-bound shepherd in Near Eastern headdress and Western jacket icily ignores the latest European fashions."
Photograph by Massimo Vitali
A world away from the nearby towers of central London, grassy Greenwich Park offers a refuge for city dwellers. One secret to designing cities that are good for the environment lies in luring nature lovers to urban green spaces instead of the suburbs.
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Photograph by G. Dzhevelieva , National Geographic Your Shot
Kazimierz, the historical Jewish quarter of Krakow, provides a colorful backdrop for an impromptu wedding shoot. "This wonderful place is the Jewish district," Your Shot contributor G. Dzhevelieva says. "It keeps so much paint and history between the streets. Nowadays it's the most interesting art place in Poland."
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Photograph by Jules Gervais Courtellemont, National Geographic
A 1928 Autochrome image by Jules Gervais Courtellemont shows a view of the arcades along the main street in Morella, Spain.
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Photograph by Robert Madden, National Geographic
In 1980s Brooklyn, teenage couples stand proudly before a flashy Trans Am. Photographer Robert Madden shot this image while on assignment for a June 1982 story by Alice J. Hall, who described the ever changing borough as "Much abused, much maligned, and much loved an authentic American amalgam, with all its achievement and failure."
Photograph by Sukri Celil Advan , National Geographic Your Shot
Whirling dervishes perform the ritual dance of the Sufi sect in a showroom in Ankara. Practitioners believe the act of repeatedly spinning allows them to forget their earthly body and move closer to God.
Photograph by Gerd Ludwig , National Geographic
The Baiterek, towering over the central promenade in Astana, Kazakhstan, flares green against a dappled evening sky. Intended as a symbol of the new capital, the 318-foot monument evokes a giant tree with a golden egg in its branches. In the Kazakh myth of Samruk, a sacred bird lays a golden egg in the branches of a poplar each year.
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Photograph by James L. Stanfield, National Geographic
Fifty-two stories above Chicago, city noises fade and vistas expand for guests at a Marina City residence around 1967.
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Photograph by Gerd Ludwig , National Geographic
St. Basil's Cathedral is brilliantly lit on a winter's night in Red Square, the famed brick plaza long used by Kremlin occupants for meetings and celebrations. Today, the square is anchored by some of Moscow's most popular attractions, including the State History Museum and the mausoleum of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin.
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Photograph by Brian Yen , National Geographic Your Shot
Crowds pass through Hong Kong's Causeway Bay in this picture submitted to our Your Shot photo community. "So many people, marching across the street, back-to-back," says contributor Brian Yen. "It all starts to blur together."
Click through our gallery of Hong Kong pictures » Learn how to break the rules to get better pictures »
Photograph by William Albert Allard , National Geographic
Models wait backstage at Emanuel Ungaro's ready-to-wear show in this picture from a June 1989 National Geographic story on the business of fashion in Paris.
See 50 years of Allard's work » Read our insider's guide to Paris »
Photograph by Edwin L. Wisherd, National Geographic
Children gather around a French Quarter snowball wagon in this Autochrome image originally published in the April 1930 issue of National Geographic. "These are the only 'snowballs' the children of New Orleans have ever seen," says the picture's caption, "as snow has not fallen there in fifty years."
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Photograph by Cristi Niculescu , National Geographic Your Shot
The city of Baia Mare in northwestern Romania is known for its mining history and well-preserved medieval remnants. Here, a quiet street is captured by National Geographic Your Shot contributor Cristi Niculescu.
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Photograph by Hans Hildenbrand, National Geographic
A Venice canal reflects the summer sky in this Autochrome picture from 1927. Photographer Hans Hildenbrand became famous for the color pictures he made around Europe during World War I.
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Photograph by L.A. Sanchez
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is a work-in-progress in this picture by amateur photographer L.A. Sanchez, awarded a prize for the image in 1935. Construction on the bridge began in 1933 and was completed in 1936.
Browse pictures of the American West » Celebrate 125 years of photography »
Photograph by Suresheswaran Eswaran , National Geographic Your Shot
Colorfully painted windows 927 in all distinguish the Ministry of Communications and Information headquarters in Singapore. Built in 1934, the six-story building originally served as a police station and barracks. It became a national monument in 1998 and is known today as the Old Hill Street Police Station.
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Photograph by Jodi Cobb
Fallen ginkgo leaves color fashionable Garosu-gil, a tree-lined stretch of stylish boutiques, caf s, and galleries that's thought to be one of Seoul's hippest destinations.
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Photograph by Randy Olson , National Geographic
Travelers crowd the platforms at Churchgate Railway Station in Mumbai the largest city in India in this photo shot on assignment for National Geographic magazine's special series, Population 7 Billion.
See pictures from "Population 7 Billion" » Read a born-and-bred Mumbaikar's guide to the city » Browse pictures of beauty in motion »
Photograph by Stephen Alvarez , National Geographic
In Paris, old limestone quarries fan out in a deep and intricate web under many neighborhoods, mostly in the southern part of the metropolis. Here, a fire thrower named Louis spins light at a gathering in one old quarry. Nearly all of the more than 180 miles of quarry tunnels are off-limits, but parties happen anyway.
Photograph by Maynard Owen Williams, National Geographic
Arches frame a street in Limassol, Cyprus also called Lemesos in this photo from the 1920s. An ancient port city that's home to numerous archaeological sites, Limassol today is the Mediterranean island's wine capital and a popular beach destination.
Photograph by Danilo Dungo , National Geographic Your Shot
"Traveling by train is the most convenient way to travel in Japan," says photographer Danilo Dungo, a member of the National Geographic Your Shot community. Here, a train operator announces the approach to Tokyo's Shinagawa subway station on the busy Yamanote Line.
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Photograph by James L. Stanfield , National Geographic
Photographer James Stanfield captured the city of Salvador, Brazil, for a 1969 story on Charles Darwin's voyage aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. "A peculiar and rather fantastic style of architecture," National Geographic quotes Darwin, who was impressed by the city and its grand view of All Saints Bay. "But these beauties are as nothing compared to the Vegetation."
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Photograph by David Alan Harvey , National Geographic
In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, many people come straight to the seashore at the end of the workday. Despite the city s deep social divisions, the beach is democratic. Rich and poor share the sand all day and into the evening.
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Photograph by Clifton R. Adams, National Geographic
In this Autochrome image from a January 1930 National Geographic story on Florida, colorful umbrellas shade members of an oceanfront club in Miami Beach. They "bathe in the blue, sunlit Gulf Stream," says the picture's caption, "and enjoy other healthful exercise when the northern resorts are icebound."
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Photograph by Dr. Akira Takaue , National Geographic Your Shot
Structural engineer and Your Shot community member Akira Takaue captured this shot at the Mall of Asia while on a business trip in Manila, Philippines. The city "has a lot of interesting and characteristic architecture," says Takaue.
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Photograph by Willard Culver, National Geographic
Children sail toy boats in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in this photo originally published in the June 1937 issue of National Geographic. The 2,028-foot rectangular pool, which reflects the Lincoln Memorial at one end and the Washington Monument at the other, is among the most iconic landmarks in Washington, D.C.
Click through a gallery of vintage photos » Read Traveler editors' favorite things to do in D.C. »
Photograph by Willard Culver, National Geographic
Children sail toy boats in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in this photo originally published in the June 1937 issue of National Geographic. The 2,028-foot rectangular pool, which reflects the Lincoln Memorial at one end and the Washington Monument at the other, is among the most iconic landmarks in Washington, D.C.
Click through a gallery of vintage photos » Read Traveler editors' favorite things to do in D.C. »
Photograph by Angie McMonigal , National Geographic Your Shot
It's a snug fit for Chicago's famous "L" tracks, here shot from above by National Geographic Your Shot community member Angie McMonigal. Flanked on two sides by the elevated rail, the art deco Trustees System Service Building, now a condominium, dates to 1930.
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Photograph by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel , National Geographic
New York's Empire State Building gleams in the windows of an architectural firm in this photo from a May 2009 National Geographic story on living roofs. Blossoming in cities around the world, overhead gardens like this one take advantage of acres of potential green space.
Click through Diane Cook and Len Jenshel's photos of the Manhattan High Line » Download the New York City guide from National Geographic »
