Back in 1979, when I was a nipper, I used to cut up National Geographic magazines. I had a whole stack of them, I’d cut out the pics and stick them together. I made a sort of scrap book of pics, about how people live in different parts of the world, I used different colour pens and wrote things beside the pics. I entered one of the scrap books for one of my school projects, I still have it somewhere, a brown paper wrapper, a pic of the United Nations and a pic of a kid in Africa on the cover I think. Sadly, I don’t think it’d win any prizes for magazine design and layout.
Anyway, today if I was to open the December issue (international edition) of National Geographic I’d have the pleasure of being able to cut out one of my own photos. The magazine contacted me a while ago and wished to run a pic of the Japanese factory ship the ‘Nisshin Maru’ dragging a small minke whale up it’s back ramp, onto the flensing deck. I’d entered my whaling images as part of a portfolio to their new annual grant competition, and didn’t win. But the picture editors had obviously seen the pic and wished to use it. Kind of them. I’ve always said it pays to enter competitions, not just to win the prizes, but to get your work in front of the people who matter.
The same whaling image is also going to be on a book cover in Germany in the near future, ‘Krieg’ by Peter Heller.
20/11/2007 at 1:44 pm
Congratulations on getting one of your photos published in National Geographic. That is a real honor.
National Geographic has been an important part of my family’s household since before I was born and I was practically raised on it.
And while I am at it, thanks for publishing your blog. Although we have never met, I have enjoyed reading your posts about working as a photographer in Tokyo over the last several years.
20/11/2007 at 10:59 pm
Wow J! That is awesome news. Congratulations, friend. National Geographic was always an important part of my household too. Such amazing photos!
21/11/2007 at 12:47 pm
Ron, Martine,
many thanks for your kind words. Seems we all came from houses where those ubiquitous yellow magazines existed. In my house they were in the bathroom…then in latter years I used two piles of them and a plank of wood to make a telephone table…
best wishes, glad you read the blog, thanks,
jsh
21/11/2007 at 1:47 pm
Now I am starting to hate National Geographic. The magazine is so damn good from cover to cover with beautiful photos and text that read almost like poetry at times that I just can’t throw old copies of the magazine away. First they took over my home in the US and now my small apartment in Japan. I know that one day, probably twenty years from now, Japanese authorities are going to find my rotting corpse buried under a roomful of them.
22/11/2007 at 2:31 am
stwnj
22/11/2007 at 2:33 am
No idea what happened before, please ignore!
Anyway…
Congrats Jeremy on the NG photo, hope it leads to more work from them. Like everyone else here, through a yellow frame was the way I saw the world beyond the UK at first; the magazines were always around the house and always inspiring.
Perhaps your pic will inspire someone to do something about the whaling. Good news all round this.
By the way Ron that doesn`t sound like the worst way to go.
Damon