The coffee table book National Geographic. The United States of America honors both National Geographic magazine and the multifaceted history of the United States. More than 700 images depict a nation in flux and serve as a testament to a constantly evolving art form—photography. Published by TASCHEN, the book is part road trip, part journey through time.
In 1952, photographer Ralph E. Gray pulled over at the edge of the Salmon-Challis National Forest in Idaho to capture an image for a National Geographic report. With a practiced eye, he positioned the yellow car, a bright red canoe strapped to its roof, and arranged his family around it: two girls in red jackets perched on a fence at the upper left. His son plays in the foreground, seemingly oblivious to the camera. To the right, Gray’s wife is seen resting her hand on a sign pointing toward the forest. She gazes into the distance. The shot is more than just a photo—it is an invitation to accompany him and all the other photographers of the magazine, founded in 1888, on their journeys and adventures.
The volume National Geographic. The United States of America vividly demonstrates why National Geographic held such significance for many Americans in the early 20th century: the magazine offered a window onto a world that few of them were able to experience firsthand. It reached the height of its influence and visual appeal in the postwar era. Americans had just endured the hardships of the Great Depression and the sacrifices of World War II; many spent long hours working in factories and on farms, while consumer goods that are taken for granted today remained scarce in many parts of the country. Travel, too, was limited by poor roads, little leisure time, and restricted financial means. Magazines such as National Geographic therefore offered a welcome escape from everyday life, if only for a few hours.
»There was an excitement about photographing in the U.S. It was a period of great expansion,« photo editor David Walker quotes the now-retired photographer Bruce Dale, who joined National Geographic in 1964, as saying in his introductory text. For many decades, the editorial focus remained primarily on the beauty of the American landscape. As a result, countless reports were devoted to the splendor of the country’s national parks.
Comprising more than 700 images, the volume shows a country in transition and serves as a testament to an art form that has changed and evolved decade by decade—from the early autochrome photographs of the twenties and thirties to Kodachrome images from the middle of the last century, the more sharply defined reportage photography of the seventies and eighties, and finally the digital images of the late nineties and the present day.
A closer look at the book also reveals that, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s, a younger generation of photographers entered the field who found the magazine’s values too conservative. They considered its sometimes idealized aesthetic outdated and were more interested in documenting the darker sides of life in the United States. Gradually, images of pollution, poverty, urban decay, and other social problems began to appear in the magazine.
Thus, the volume published by TASCHEN is both a journey through time and a road trip across a vast country defined by its diversity. Each state is given its own chapter, tracing its development through numerous images and detailed captions. Prefaces to each chapter and an introductory essay by photo editor David Walker complete the book. National Geographic. The United States of America is both a tribute to one of the world’s most influential photography magazines and an appreciation of the history of the United States—in all its kaleidoscopic variety. [SW]
National Geographic. The United States of America
Hardcover, 27 x 37.4 cm, 792 pages
taschen.com