National Geographic magazine is a widely known magazine for it’s fantastic photography. For this blog assignment, I have chosen an article called “The Big Thaw” in the September 2004 issue. The photos in this specific article were taken by Peter Essick.
The article starts off with a scenery photo of the Central Swiss Alps that covers both pages of the spread. The title of the article is placed on top of the photo. As a whole, the article doesn’t seem to have the photos placed in any type of chronological order or anything like that. They are mostly just scenery photos that depict the melting ice around the world. Two photos have been included that do, however, show the Antarctic Peninsula in a chronological order. They represent how the size of the Antarctic Peninsula has decreased over time. One photo towards the end of the article is a portrait of an Inupiat woman in Shishmaref, Alaska. In a way, this photo is a moment because the caption explains that the ground where this village used to dry seal meat last year is now gone. Due to the ice melting, higher waves are what is causing all of the erosion of the land. The village is planning on relocating to the mainland.
This article is very simple, yet it covers a very important topic that most people seem to ignore because it is not affecting them directly at this moment in time. These photos are not only beautiful, but they help to make the words in the article clearer. Global warming is causing such climate changes that all the ice in the world is melting. The photo of the Inupiat woman really helps to put the story into perspective for people who have yet to be affected by global warming.
