Photography

Memorial to a species, Brent Stirton, South Africa, Grand 
title winner 2017

Tragedy and Beauty of Nature on Display in This Year's Best Wildlife Photos

The 16 award-winning images range from whimsical birds to the tragic aftermath of a poaching raid

Civil Rights activist Grady O'Cummings talking with a group of boys. O'Cummings later faked his own death to avoid threats made by members of the Black Panthers against him and his family.

These Never-Before-Seen Photos From "The New York Times" Offer a New Glimpse Into African-American History

The editors of the new book, “Unseen” talk about recognizing the paper of record’s biases

This March 1843 portrait, taken in Washington, D.C., is the oldest known original photo of a U.S. president.

See the Earliest-Known Photograph of a U.S. President at the National Portrait Gallery in 2018

The museum recently acquired the 1843 daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams at the Sotheby’s photographs auction

A line of men in green in the United Arab Emirates

Agoraphobic Photographer Captures the World With Some Help From Google Street View

A new exhibition shows how Jacqui Kenny has photographed stunning images of the planet without leaving her London home

The glowing end of a tapeworm took fourth place in the competition. 200x magnification

Revel in the Big Details of Tiny Things With These Prize-Winning Images

Skin cells, tape worms and fuzzy mold are among this years top photos

Rosetta's last image, a 11-foot square area of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Scientists Discover One Last Image From the Rosetta Mission

The probe sent partial data for the photo before it crash landed on a comet September 30, 2016

“I felt strongly that it was cotton that killed Emmett Till,” says photographer Andrew Lichtenstein.

New Book of Photographs Recalls the Trauma of American History

Looking back at a lynching that shocked America and galvanized the civil rights movement

Star-Studded Photos Reveal the Beauty of Armenia's Ancient Landscapes

The photographer behind 'Your beautiful eyes' documents his country's storied landscape beneath canopies of stars

Cypress Swamp. Middle Mississippi, 2014

Photographer Reconstructs 1,400-Mile Route Along the Underground Railroad

'Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad' traces a plausible path a freedom seeker could have taken North

Statue at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, a museum of the Korean War located in Pyongyang. Exhibits include a 360-degree diorama of the Battle of Daejon. In addition to the many statues, murals and artifacts contained in the museum is the USS Pueblo, a U.S. Navy ship that was captured by North Korean forces when it allegedly entered North Korean territorial waters in 1968.

The View From Pyongyang: An Exclusive Look at the World's Most Secretive Nation

One photographer journeyed into North Korea to catch a unique glimpse of a country under a dictatorship

A group of Giant South American turtles gather in this image taken in the Cantão State Park, in Tocantins, Brazil. Though this is an intensely biodiverse region—perhaps even more so than the Amazon ecosystem—it is poorly known.

Photo Competition Highlights Splendor of Earth’s Ecosystems

The winning and commended images of BMC Ecology’s fifth annual photo contest are now available online

This series was captured over the course of three hours from St. Louis Missouri. Look closely at the right edge of the fully eclipsed sun and you can see a large solar flare.

Stunning Photos Capture the Solar Eclipse Across America

This stellar phenomenon delighted millions today as it transited across the United States

Why Queen Victoria Was an Early Adopter of Photography

In the 1840s, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert set up elaborate white winter interiors and decorated trees to celebrate Christmas at Windsor Castle

None

These Photos of Taiwan Will Take Your Breath Away

Take a visual tour of Taiwan from golden beaches to misty mountains to glittering statues

This summer, Smithsonian reporters took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Freer Gallery and shot exclusive photographs of the building in its preparatory state.

Take an Exclusive Sneak Peek Inside the Renovated Freer Gallery, Reopening in October

Charles Lang Freer gifted this meditative haven for art lovers to the nation and was James McNeill Whistler's friend and patron

What Kind of Footage Do Historical Colorists Like Best?

According to the historians and art directors from Composite Films who worked meticulously on America in Color, these were some of their favorite subjects

Portrait of Florence Thompson, aged 32, that was part of Lange's "Migrant Mother" series. Lange's notes detailed that the family had "seven hungry children," including the one pictured here. " Nipomo, California, circa 1936.

Meet 10 Depression-Era Photographers Who Captured the Struggle of Rural America

Two women and eight men were sent out with their cameras in 1930s America. What they brought back was an indelible record of a period of struggle

This grand-prize-winning image captures a touching moment between a parent gentoo penguin and its and chick.

Diverse Splendor of Birds on Display in Audubon Photo Competition

100 of the top submissions can now be viewed online

A horseshoe crab.

Forget Dinos: Horseshoe Crabs Are Stranger, More Ancient—And Still Alive Today

But now evolution’s ultimate survivors may be in danger

Triple-Face Portrait by Sylvia Plath, c. 1950-1951

The Whimsical, Chameleon-Like Figure Behind the Myth of Sylvia Plath

Today, visions of a life marked by mental illness endure, but the author had a light side—and a knack for savvy image control

Page 20 of 52