TO THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ARCHIVES
Text by:Quartz Co.
For over a century, National Geographic has captured the imaginations of nature-goers and city-dwellers, alike. In 1888, the now globally-read magazine was founded as a private, scholarly journal. Into the 20th century, however, the periodical evolved into an endeavour to illuminate the world's wonders to the public and preserve them for future generations.
Throughout decades, the magazine has brought readers to far-flung corners of the world, uncovering not only the sublimity of nature but the importance of our relationship with the environments we inhabit. @geoarchive_ is the Instagram account plumbing the depths of the magazine’s rich photographic archive, bringing its most iconic and awe-inspiring content to a new generation of readers. Here, to mark the final days of the Winter season, we take a look back at some of National Geographic’s most astonishing ice-covered images, from the penguin-speckled icebergs of the South Atlantic to the candlelit igloos of Japan’s snowy Yokote.
During the Kamakura festival in Yokote, Japan, small caves in the snow hold flames as an offering to Suijin, the god of water, to bring a plentiful rice harvest. Photo by Peter Essick. September 1994.
A group of penguins gather on an iceberg in the waters of the southern Atlantic Ocean, South Georgia Island. Photo by Paul Nicklen. December 2009.
The photographer’s assistant holds on to the ice canopy covering Japan’s Shiretoko Peninsula, which can reach a thickness of 25 feet in winter. Photo by Brian Skerry. November 2010.
Mobile plywood structures built in villages and towed by dogs to prime hunting grounds offer shelter to hunters in Qaanaaq, Greenland. Photo by David McLain. January 2006.
A canyon in the Greenland ice sheet with a depth of 150 feet carved by glacial meltwater. Photo by James Balog. June 2010.
With its grandstand view of the snow-capped Annapurna Range to the north, the meadow known as the Austrian Camp is a favorite spot for hikers in Nepal. Photo by Galen Rowell. September 1989.
Barry Blanchard and Marc Twight on the frozen face of Curtain Caller, Jasper National Park, Canada. Photo by Chris Noble. December 1996.
Elephant seals along with Gentoo and chinstrap penguins dot the shore of Cooper Bay, South Georgia. Photo by Paul Nicklen. December 2009.
Climbers at 19,000 feet. Pik Pobedy, Kyrgyzstan. Photo by David Breashears. August 1986.
Arctic Ocean, Antarctica. Photo by Maria Stenzel. December 2001.
Fir and spruce tower 80 feet or more over the forest floor, Blackfeet Nation call these mountains “the backbone of the world.” Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Montana. Photo by Michael Melford. September 2007
In the dead of winter at the bottom of the world, four climbers race storms up an unforgiving mountain. Cerro Torre, Patagonia. Photo by Thomas Ulrich. March 2000.