How the National Geographic Assignment Began
Becoming a Nikon Ambassador opened many doors for me as a photographer, but one opportunity would eventually lead to something particularly special: working as a National Geographic photographer on a seven-page feature about Kolkata.
The story actually began three years earlier, when Nikon invited me to speak at the National Geographic Traveller show in London. I was asked to give a presentation about travel and documentary photography: how I research and prepare for a journey, how I approach photographing once I’m there, and some of the techniques I use to create variety and build a stronger visual story.
At the time, I had no idea that the talk would eventually lead to a National Geographic photography assignment.
A Chance Conversation
There is always an element of luck in a photographic career, and on this particular day I happened to meet exactly the right person.
The National Geographic representative attending my presentation was responsible for commissioning photographic projects for the magazine. I discovered this almost by accident when, during our conversation, I asked:
“So who is responsible for allocating the photographic projects within the magazine?”
The answer was wonderfully simple:
“I am.”
I immediately realised this was one of those rare opportunities you don’t allow to disappear.
More than 150 photographers had come to hear me speak about building a career in travel and documentary photography, and shortly afterwards a meeting was arranged at National Geographic’s London offices where I could present my portfolio of street and documentary photography from around the world.
The response to the photographs was extremely positive, but the picture editor also gave me an important piece of criticism.
My strongest street photographs were good enough, but there weren’t enough details, establishing photographs and scene-setting images to build a complete magazine feature.
That observation stayed with me. Producing a strong editorial story requires something quite different from assembling a collection of individually strong photographs. The quieter frames, details and transitional images may not be the photographs that win awards, but they can be essential when you’re trying to tell a story across several pages.
The Call from National Geographic
Then came the wait.
Over the following fifteen months there were several conversations and meetings, but no assignment. Eventually the call came.
National Geographic wanted me to photograph a seven-page feature on Kolkata, giving me the opportunity to work as a National Geographic photographer in a city I already knew extremely well
It couldn’t have been a much better fit. I already knew Kolkata extremely well, having returned to the city repeatedly over several years to photograph its streets and lead photography workshops there.
A journalist was assigned to write the accompanying article and I received a brief containing several essential photographs and suggested subjects. Beyond those requirements, however, I was given considerable freedom to photograph Kolkata in my own documentary style.
Photographing Kolkata
The assignment took place in November, immediately after one of the street and travel photography workshops I was leading in Kolkata for Nikon UK.
Knowing the city already made an enormous difference.
I wasn’t arriving in Kolkata trying to understand it for the first time while simultaneously completing a magazine assignment. I already knew many of its streets, markets and neighbourhoods, understood something of its rhythms and had developed relationships and knowledge through repeatedly returning to photograph there.
Alongside photographs made specifically for the National Geographic brief, I submitted some of my existing Kolkata street photography, together with new photographs of important locations, architecture, details and everyday life.
And I approached the assignment with that earlier portfolio criticism very much in mind.
I wasn’t simply looking for individual photographs that worked on their own. I needed to think about the complete visual story: wide establishing photographs, intimate human moments, details, architecture and quieter transitional images that would give the editors the material they needed to construct a seven-page feature.
The Seven-Page National Geographic Feature
The Full-Size Images and How National Geographic Cropped Them
Over the five-day assignment, I photographed more than 300 images, covering everything from wider establishing scenes and everyday street life to portraits, details and the specific locations required by the brief.
One of the most interesting parts of the process came afterwards: seeing how the National Geographic editors selected, sequenced and cropped my photographs for the final seven-page feature.
Below I’ve shown some of the original full-frame photographs alongside the versions that appeared in the magazine. It’s fascinating to see how an image can be cropped to fit a particular page layout while still retaining the essential moment and story within the frame.
For photographers, it’s also a useful reminder that when you’re working editorially, the final photograph isn’t always presented exactly as you composed it in camera. The image ultimately becomes part of a larger story and page design.
What Photographing for National Geographic Taught Me
Looking back, the most valuable part of the assignment wasn’t simply seeing my photographs published across seven pages of National Geographic Traveller. It was understanding more clearly what it takes to photograph a complete editorial story.
As street photographers, we’re naturally drawn towards the strongest individual frame. We look for the decisive moment, an interesting composition or several layers coming together within a fraction of a second.
But a magazine story needs more than that.
It needs photographs that establish where we are, details that provide context, quieter moments that allow the story to breathe and images that connect one part of the narrative with another. Some of those photographs may never be the ones you would choose for your portfolio, but within a sequence they can become essential.
That lesson has stayed with me and continues to influence the way I approach documentary and travel photography today.
Knowing Kolkata Made the Difference
The other important lesson was the value of returning to the same place.
I’d already spent years photographing Kolkata before receiving the National Geographic assignment. I knew many of the markets, streets and neighbourhoods, understood when particular locations became interesting and had developed relationships and local knowledge that would have been impossible to acquire during a five-day commission.
That familiarity allowed me to spend less time searching for subjects and more time concentrating on the photographs and the story I needed to tell.
It’s one of the reasons I continue returning to places rather than constantly searching for somewhere new. The first visit gives you photographs. Returning allows you to understand what you’re photographing.
Explore My Kolkata Photography
Kolkata remains one of the cities I return to most frequently and has become an important part of my documentary photography.
Kolkata Documentary Photography →
Explore my wider body of work from Kolkata, including photographs made across the city’s streets, markets and communities.
Layers of India →
Discover my longer-term photographic work from India and the approach to layered documentary photography that has developed through repeatedly returning to the country.
Photography Journeys in India →
Find out more about travelling and photographing India with me in small groups and private photographic journeys.
Then I’d finish with one final, understated paragraph:
Photography Is Only the Beginning
Being commissioned by National Geographic was undoubtedly an important moment in my career, but the assignment reinforced something I’ve come to believe more strongly with every year I photograph.
The best documentary photography rarely comes from simply arriving somewhere with a camera.
It comes from time, curiosity, relationships and understanding. The camera gives us a reason to enter somebody else’s world, but the photographs become more meaningful when we stay long enough to understand something about the people and places in front of us.
That, more than seeing my photographs in print, is what I took away from photographing Kolkata for National Geographic.
Photograph India With Me
India remains one of the places I return to most frequently, both for my own documentary photography and to share what I’ve learned with other photographers.
I lead a small number of private and small-group photography journeys in India, working with photographers who want to go beyond simply visiting extraordinary places and create more thoughtful, personal documentary work.
These journeys are built around the same approach I bring to my own photography: time, local knowledge, access, observation and relationships, combined with individual guidance throughout the journey.
Explore Photography Journeys in India →
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