Nat Geo: Best of 125 in photographs

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To celebrate its 125th birthday, National Geographic magazine will launch a special on the most fascinating images it has featured since its inception. Saloni Dutta talks to Chris Johns, Executive VP and Editor-in-Chief, National Greographic and Manas Mohan, COO ACK Media & Publishing Director National Geographic Magazine, India, about the initiative

From the world’s grandest creatures, to stunning landscapes across the globe, National Geographic has been featuring the planet’s natural and man-made diversities since it launched 125 years ago. To celebrate this milestone, the October issue of the international magazine, including the India edition, will feature some of the magazine’s most iconic photographs. At National Geographic Magazine, the celebrations are already under way, starting with the launch of the microsite www.nationalgeographic.co.in/125/. “We’re going all out with our heavy-duty display campaign for the magazine, and we’re also going to advertise with travel channels Fox Traveller and National Geographic Channel,” said Manas Mohan, COO, ACK Media and Publishing Director, National Geographic Magazine in India. A series of photography workshops and a host of exhibitions in select cities are also being planned.

Nat Geo’s Journey In India

The international magazine has been in India since 1942, distributed by India Book House only since the last 18 years. “Our partnership with ACK Media in India opens up exciting new opportunities to connect with our large loyal base in India,” says Chris Johns, Executive Vice President, Group Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief, National Geographic.“We are always eager to find new ways to work with our existing partners to create products that appeal to their unique markets, and look for new partners to further expand the breadth of our brand and the depth of our offerings.” National Geographic Magazine has been India for several years and the Oct issue 2013 print circulation is 1,25,000 for the bumper issue.

Going digital

The brand has been consciously striving to build and develop its online presence. Mohan claims the main website nationalgeographic.co.in garners more than 7 million page views a month. “About 50% of our marketing spends is online, for the B2C customer, because we think that people who read National Geographic are are also net-savvy,” he says. The brand is also looking to develop communities online. “We will now start an India specific Facebook community, because that is where people want to interact with one another. In fact, 50 to 60% of our money and efforts go into our digital products and building ommunities around the same,” adds Mohan.

Future plans

Mohan feels that the magazine needs to be read by more people in the country. It needs to make youngsters aware of the perils our planet is facing. In terms of moving ahead with National Geographic Magazine in India, Manas Mohan reveals it will involve an interesting combination of pure content for content’s sake and consumptions leading from this content. “A lot of advertisers also feel that their CSR activities could find a good platform in the magazine,” says Mohan. Globally, for instance, Shell has been associated with National Geographic to help resolve issues related to waste disposal.

Noted anthropologist Jane Goodall with a baby chimp in Tanzania (Photo by Hugo van Lawick)

A Bengal tiger beats the Indian heat by cooling off in a pond (Photo by Michael Nichols)

A penguin with a ‘crittercam’ prepares to dive in Antartica (Photo by Greg Marshall)

The photographer studies his films at Yakutat Bay, Alaska (Photo by Oscar D Von Engeln)

A tree-climbing lion stirs in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park (Photo by Joel Sartore )

NATGEO’S INTERNATIONAL MILESTONES

The magazine’s first edition was distributed to 200 charter members of the National Geographic Society in October, 1888. It was a modest-looking, scientific brochure with a terra-cotta cover, and the main article was a scholarly report on ‘The Classification of Geographic Forms by Genesis’.

The magazine featured its first photograph in the July, 1890 issue, and its first natural-colour photograph appeared in July 1914. Colour photographs did not appear regularly on the cover of the magazine until September, 1959.

In October, 1952, the magazine featured the first of many undersea articles by explorer and photographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

In 1985, the magazine featured Sharbat Gula, the ‘Afghan Girl’, whose portrait has become the most recognized photograph in the magazine’s history.

In July, 1995, the magazine produced its first local-language edition in Japanese. Today, there are 40 editions in 36 languages, and the magazine is read by 60 million monthly readers worldwide.