Through the Lens: National Geographic's Greatest Photographs

by Leah Bendavid-Val (Editor)

For more than 100 years, National Geographic has set the standard for nature, culture, and wildlife photography. In Through the Lens, 250 spectacular images--some famous, others rarely seen--are gathered in one lavish volume.

Through the Lens is divided into geographical regions with a special section devoted to space exploration. Each geographical section features an outstanding array of photographs that exemplifies the area's unique people, wildlife, archaeology, culture, architecture, and environment, accompanied by brief but informative captions. From Barry Bishop's heroic Mount Everest climb in the 1950s to the glorious wildlife of Asia and Africa, from ancient Maya culture to the Afghan woman found 17 years after her piercing green eyes captivated the world, these are some of the finest and most important photographs ever taken.

Featuring master photographers from the late 1800s to today, including Frans Lanting, David Doubilet, David Alan Harvey, Jodi Cobb, William Albert Allard, Nick Nichols, and Annie Griffiths Belt, Through the Lens is an extraordinary photographic celebration of some of the greatest the world has to offer.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Art, Travel, Reference, Coffee Table Books, History

504 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Leah Bendavid-Val is a historian of photography who has worked with Russian photographers for more than two decades. She is the author most recently of Song Without Words: The Photographs & Diaries of Countess Sophia Tolstoy (published in October 2007). Her two earlier books about Russian photographers and themes are Propaganda & Dreams (1999); and Changing Reality (1991).

Bendavid-Val is former Director of Photography Publishing for National Geographic Books. Books published in her program for popular and professional audiences have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Bendavid-Val is author of two books on the history of National Geographic photography—Stories on Paper & Glass (2001) and the best-selling National Geographic: The Photographs (1994), which is still in print. She is co-author and editor of National Geographic Image Collection, on the New York Times Bestseller List in December 2009.

Based on her Russia and National Geographic work, Leah Bendavid-Val has served as curator for exhibitions at the International Center for Photography, New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, the Pushkin Museum, Moscow, and other museums. She teaches writing and book publishing for photographers at the Santa Fe Workshops in New Mexico. She was Commencement Speaker for the University of Maryland Department of Philosophy, Class of 2008.

(from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/person/l...)

Reviews

[Zanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is divided into sections on Europe, Asia, Africa & The Middle East, The Americas, Oceans & Isles and The Universe. Most of the introductory text is written in a bizarre sweeping style of Earth-for-aliens from a colonial perspective. Some of the within-section introductions are ridiculous:

In France, young Gypsies still find time for the pleasures of childhood despite the nomadic ways of their families

I tweeted it and later storified the conversation. But really, how did this sedentarist nonsense get past the editors?

It's telling that the Europe and Americas sections have subsections on 'Recreation' while Asia and Africa & Middle East have 'Traditions' The general whitewashing, victim-blaming and focus on negative stories is perhaps most depressing in that it just doesn't match the pictures! The most obvious contrast was in the Africa & Middle East section on 'Women'

Tethered to lives of limited scope, most women of Africa and the Middle East must find their fulfillment in domestic responsibilities. Bearing and looking after children can consume countless hours of a woman's time and energy: In Africa, for example, women give birth to an average of six children each. While religious or ethnic dictates rule much of their existence, poverty is an overarching influence in their lives. Like the wives of cattle herders in Nigeria, many women own little more than the clothes on their backs.

This paragraph is its own satire; I couldn't possibly rewrite it to be any more dehumanising. Yet the photographs that follow do not show undifferentiated women in 'Africa' giving birth, bearing children, looking after children or finding fulfillment in domestic responsibilities. They show women praying, dancing together, chatting in a salon, waiting in airport departure lounges, standing above a view of the Gaza strip holding up a dove of peace and -well knock me down with a feather- VOTING IN AN ELECTION!!!?! In face-veils. Topless. In woolly cardigans. In the casual garb of the international teenager. The camera is telling one story, while the commentary reads an obsolete colonial script. I can hardly believe Douglas Bennett Lee saw the material he was writing about.

By the time I got to the Americas I was so annoyed that the desultory and entirely guilt-free mention of First Nation peoples could hardly raise me to a higher pitch of fury. Suffice it to say that I thought it was really nice of photographers to 'dignify' their First Nation 'subjects... whose last days, we know, are drawing near.' NOPE.

[La Crosse County Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally published October 2003

Every coffee table needs a coffee table book even if you have to borrow one from the library for four weeks. The Hazel Brown Leicht Memorial Library has such books available!

I had intended to write about a couple of books, but this one book impressed me so much I didn't even want to write about another one. To me, this one was to be put in the limelight.

National Geographic has published a beautiful book called Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs. It is an ideal coffee table book because it is very visual and doesn't involve a lot of reading, just enough to educate the reader about what he is looking at. There are hundreds of unique moments captured on film. What emerges in these pages is a fascinating vision of our world.

On one page, Taiwanese girls in traditional costumes peer out of a 1920 portrait; on another, an astronaut spacewalks above a sea of clouds; on yet a third, a leaping arctic wolf hangs in the air between ice floes. More than a hundred gifted photographers from every era are represented here.

One of my favorites is a 1991 photo by Sisse Brimberg. The subjects are a couple in Montreal, Canada enjoying a quiet moment on Mount Royal Park's iced-over Beaver Lake. Another is a 1921 photo by George Shiras III. He captured frightened deer illuminated by a flashlight, bounding into the woods near Lake Superior. More than likely you will find a few favorites of your own!

You truly can be absorbed in this book. Through the Lens: National Geographic Greatest Photographs can be found on the back wall of new arrivals in the non-fiction section at the West Salem Library. If you enjoy it as much as I did, you can renew it for another three weeks, either by bringing the book in or by phoning us. I hope you enjoy it!

Find this book and other titles within our catalog.

[Flower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of images. Some are really nice. If these are NG greatest photographs I am worried. I have seen better photos from children. It's their collection not mine. It does cover the years but what an interesting choice of pictures to call them the greatest.

[Ray Dunsmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book of photographs, though nowhere near the "greatest photographs" published in National Geographic. The majority of these photos are okay, nothing to write home about, things I could've taken in my own town with a cellphone camera. Interesting in parts, but most of it is nothing to write home about. The nicer pictures in this collection, however, (most of them to do with motion blur) are enough to bump this up a star.

[Lisa Lingrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A surprising collection of Photographs that are deemed National Geographic's Greatest. Really? I look over my collection of travel snaps and have to say perhaps I could work as a Photographer for this company.... Disappointing. Perhaps if I was looking at the original photo I would be impressed. They seemed flat and lacked lustre and questioned the "eye" behind the lens.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Granted, it's probably the hardest (though also most enviable!) job in the world to pick 200 or so of the "best" photographs in the history of National Geographic... but this book could have been much, much better. For me, the "best" are stunning, sharp photos like the one on the cover. Some would also be historic and there would be a few that are artsy just for art's sake. Unfortunately, most of the ones that are included in this book are real head-scratchers. Part of the problem is that they tried too hard to showcase an even number of pictures for each continent. Another part was probably (I'm just guessing here) an unwillingness to play favorites among a talented pool of prima-donna photographers.

[Ericka Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

This was kinda hard to rate. I'm about to go on a big trip to India so I wanted a book that would get me really excited about traveling, and I picked this up. Some of the photographs were really interesting and stunning, while others were...uninspired. The commentary for the photographs was ridiculous though. Especially the introductions to the Asian, African, and Middle Eastern sections - I got this "Oooh, so exotic" vibe from the author that struck me as a bit pretentious and problematic. It also annoyed me that most of the photos in this book from were taken from the 90s, yet it's supposed to be National Geographic's "greatest" photos. Pretty sure there are much better photos that weren't included in this volume but oh well.

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, just not that interesting...

[F.C. Etier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring photography!

[Caro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great photos - interesting that they're presented in this rather small, square format. It works surprisingly well.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Through the Lens: National Geographic’s Greatest Photographs edited by Leah Ben-David Val (National Geographic Society 2003) (778.9) (3768).

This is the National Geographic Society’s volume of “the best of” photos published in 2003.

I could not wait to crack the cover of this literary and photographic gold nugget that I found at my local used book store. I anticipated a deep dive into the sea of art which National Geographic Magazine displays in each issue.

It is a fine collection of beautiful photos from around the world. But with that said, as a long-time lover of National Geographic’s monthly magazine and the owner of many of the National Geographic Society’s books, I confess that I was underwhelmed by the collection of images selected by the editors for inclusion in this volume.

There’s not a thing to criticize about any of the shots in the book. It’s just that in this reader’s humble opinion, it is not one of the Society’s best efforts. It’s not a bad book at all, but it does not rise to the standard set by previous NGS collections. I would not rank this volume among my top fifteen National Geographic photographic collections.

I purchased a used HB copy in like-new condition for $0.25 from McKay’s Books on 6/1/22.

My rating: 7/10, finished 4/13/23 (3768).

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not my favorite photographic book and I definitely don't think these pictures are National Geographic's greatest photos, as the title implies. Granted, I prefer animal and nature photos, but the human pictures are not top notch.

My favorites:
p. 142 a non-typical angle of Angkor - Cambodia
p. 202 red-crowned cranes in a mist shrouded field - Japan
p. 400 New Year's fireworks lighting up Sydney Harbour - Australia
p.492 eight exposures of the midnight sun - near Greenland

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Authors and photographers are almost all white males and so that is the perspective of the text and photos. Annoying that a Native American story of the origin of the Milky Way was dubbed “charming” when oral traditions are important to cultures . I felt it demeaning and the photos chosen were largely not representative of nations but tropes and in most cases did not do justice to the people or culture.

[Ray Dunsmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've warmed up a bit to this one since I last read it as a young photographer filled with delusions of grandeur and certain he knew better than 100 years' worth of trained professionals scattered around the globe. It's a fantastic collection of images from one of the all-time great magazine publications. Fascinating stuff, even if it is by design a surface-level look at their work.

[Kathleen Messmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book is rather extraordinary, I found some of the "great" images to be not so.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book the pictures where amazing and I learned a lot from the information about each countries segment and the captions of the pictures.

[Sugarrr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very big beautiful hardcover book , the pictures could have been a bit better they weren't that great I've seen much better in their magazines . It's still a great coffee table book !

[David Highton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant photography from the last 120 years or so

[Samikshan Sengupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most photographs are quite good. But the writing style is light weight from a dated perspective.

[Liselotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little snippet of history, but the text DEFINETLY needs an update on the language used to describe people, but considering this was published in 2003, it's understandable.

[Graeme Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’ve ever flipped through a National Geographic magazine, you know the kind of magic they can capture. This collection is like getting the best of that magic distilled into a single book. I’ll admit, I went into this expecting it to be just another coffee table book - pretty to look at but not much more. But this collection surprised me. It’s not only beautiful but also thought-provoking and inspiring, offering a glimpse into how the world has been captured over the years through the eyes of some of the most talented photographers out there.

The book feels like a journey, not just geographically, but emotionally and historically. The photographs are grouped thematically rather than chronologically, which I think works really well. Instead of just seeing the world evolve over time, you get to experience humanity through different lenses - literally and figuratively. There are sections on landscapes, wildlife, cultures, and conflict, and each one tells its own story. It’s the kind of book you can pick up and browse through at random, but it also rewards a more deliberate, cover-to-cover reading.

What struck me most was the sheer variety in the photography. You’ve got sweeping, dramatic landscapes that make you feel like a speck in the universe, right next to intimate portraits that feel so personal you almost feel like you’re intruding. I loved the way the book captures both the grandeur and the quiet moments of life. It’s not just about what’s traditionally considered beautiful; it’s about truth and connection. A lot of these images aren’t “pretty” in the usual sense, but they’re powerful, and they make you feel something.

The commentary in the book is a nice touch too. Leah Bendavid-Val, who curated the collection, provides context for many of the images, but it never feels like over-explaining. The words enhance the pictures without taking over. Sometimes it’s a snippet about how a photograph was taken - like the challenges of capturing a snow leopard in the wild - or a bit of background about the subject or location. It adds depth to the viewing experience without making it feel like homework.

One of my favorite sections was the wildlife photography. National Geographic has a way of showing animals that feels almost reverent, and this book is no exception. There’s this incredible shot of a lion staring directly at the camera, its eyes so piercing it feels like it’s looking straight into your soul. And then there’s the humor, too - like an image of penguins waddling through a snowy landscape that had me smiling. It’s a reminder that nature isn’t just majestic; it’s also quirky and surprising.

The cultural and human interest photos were equally stunning. Some of them are joyful, like a group of children playing soccer in a dusty field, their smiles lighting up the frame. Others are heart-wrenching, capturing moments of conflict or hardship. But even the heavier images have a kind of beauty to them. There’s a photo of a woman carrying water through a desert that I kept coming back to. It’s so simple, yet it says so much about survival and strength.

What I appreciated most about “Through the Lens” is how it reminds you of the sheer diversity of our planet. It’s easy to get caught up in your own little corner of the world, but this book pulls you out of that. It makes you realize how vast and interconnected everything is, and how much there is to learn and appreciate. I found myself lingering over certain images, just taking them in, and feeling a mix of awe and gratitude.

Of course, no book is perfect. If I had to nitpick, I’d say that some of the images felt a bit overexposed - not in the photographic sense, but in terms of familiarity. A few of the shots are so iconic that they’ve almost lost their impact. But then again, there’s a reason they’re iconic, so I can’t be too hard on the editors for including them.

This is a book that feels timeless. It’s not just about photography; it’s about the world we live in and how we see it. Whether you’re a photography enthusiast, a traveler at heart, or just someone who appreciates a good story, “Through the Lens” has something for you. It’s the kind of book you’ll want to keep on your shelf and revisit whenever you need a dose of inspiration or perspective. And honestly, who doesn’t need that every now and then?

[Jan Sandford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have owned this beautiful book for some time now and I am always amazed every time I take it down from the shelves. The photographs are absolutely stunning. There are so many glorious scenes depicting such images as washing flapping in the wind, young Tajik children sat in a row reading their school notes, babies lined up in a very long cot waiting to be washed in Shanghai, workers wearing jazzy clothes as they climb the wall of the Great Mosque in Mali, to give it a new lick of paint. The list is endless but it is well worth reaching page 501 to see all the images.

If I have one small complaint then it is that the book is heavy and cumbersome and is probably best left on the coffee table and not placed high on a shelf.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a true gem. Photos from the past 150 years by photographers who present true windows into the places, people, and life of all kinds even to expressing the next frontier of life, space. A great book to spend time with that takes you on a journey without leaving the comfort of wherever you are.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great photographs, but the quality of the prints in the book took away from the pictures. Perhaps my copy had just been perused too many times from the library. I would love to see proper prints of these photos.

[Louann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a freelance photographer, always wanted to work with National geographic.. oh how i love this book !!!!! The photographs are truly amazing !

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

another great coffee table book

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect book to look to for general artistic sparks or glimpses into the human condition.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlighting some of National Geographic's photography greats.

[Raha]

I'm always fascinated by the photographs on National Geographic.

[Kelsey Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book makes you want to travel the world.