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Photography

Barcelona

Coastal Cities of Europe

Coastal Cities of Europe

Explore the history, culture and natural wonders of the continent’s most celebrated ports

Reykjavik Domestic Airport is located just a mile from the city center, so when planes fly in and out, passengers get a close view of buildings below. 

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Take Flight With These 20 Awe-Inspiring Aviation Images

See airplanes of all sizes, shapes and colors from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

David Rankin, operations manager at the Catalina Sky Survey, keeps tabs on space rocks in search of new and potentially hazardous asteroids.

From a Remote Observatory, He’s Defending Our Planet. Get a Glimpse Inside the Life of a Doomsday Asteroid Hunter

David Rankin of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spends nights scanning the solar system for potentially catastrophic space rocks. Here’s what he has to say about that “high consequence” work, an interstellar comet and living with uncertainty

Bao Li (pictured on January 4, 2025) and Qing Bao, who are both 4 years old, are still considered teenagers in panda years.

Pandamonium

See 14 of the National Zoo’s Most Adorable Giant Panda Photos From 2025

These snapshots of Bao Li and Qing Bao capture the pair’s cutest moments, from playing in the snow to celebrating their 4th birthdays

Juvenile sunflower sea stars at the Sunflower Star Laboratory in Moss Landing, California. At this phase, each is less than an inch wide, but they can grow to be more than three feet across as adults.

A Deadly Pathogen Decimated Sunflower Sea Stars. Look Inside the Lab Working to Bring Them Back by Freezing and Thawing Their Larvae

For the first time, scientists have cryopreserved and revived the larvae of a sea star species. The breakthrough, made with the giant pink star, gives hope the technique could be repeated to save the imperiled predator

"The Fall of Icarus" 

This Stunning Image Shows a Skydiver Falling Across the Face of the Sun. Here’s How the Team Captured the Mesmerizing Photo

Months of careful planning and calculations went into the shot. Then, the team had only one jump attempt to get it right

Smithsonian magazine's picks for best photography books of 2025 include Birds of a Feather, Blue Sun and Trembling Earth.

The Best Books of 2025

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2025

Our favorite titles this year invite readers to take in the beauty of nature and our cultural rituals

The shadows of early morning visitors are cast on the base of the Abraham Lincoln statue at his memorial on the National Mall. 

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

These 15 Photographs Capture What It’s Like to Walk Through Wonderful, Historic Washington, D.C.

Enjoy this selection of images of the nation’s capital from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

This photo by Julius Shulman became a symbol of Los Angeles.

This Historic Mid-Century Modern Home Overlooking Los Angeles Is on the Market for the Very First Time

Buck and Carlotta Stahl built their home in the Hollywood Hills in 1960. Soon after the structure’s completion, it was captured in an era-defining photograph

The photograph is known as The Last Jew in Vinnitsa.

A Historian Has Finally Uncovered the Identity of the Nazi Gunman in a Haunting Holocaust Photograph

The 1941 image shows a Nazi soldier pointing a gun at the head of a man kneeling at the edge of a pit filled with bodies. With help from A.I., the gunman has been identified as 34-year-old Jakobus Onnen

Peeps Marshmallow Chicks cooling on a conveyor belt before packaging at Just Born Quality Confections (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania), 2023

See Amazing Images That Reveal the Strange, Otherworldly Beauty Hidden in American Factories

Photographer Christopher Payne provides a peek into the surreal aesthetics of industry in the United States

Bonneville is one of the flattest natural runways on the planet, a surface so smooth and open that racers have been coming here for generations to see how far they can push the machines they build.

Rooted in the American West: Food, History and Culture

Meet the Daredevils Chasing Down Speed Records at the Bonneville Salt Flats

Race officials, tinkerers and competitors converge in Utah every fall to test both metal and mettle

Made with more than 2,000 hand-blown glass flowers, artist Dale Chihuly created Fiori di Como, this colorful ceiling of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. 

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

These 15 Gorgeous Photographs Capture the Beautiful Art of Blown and Stained Glass

From cathedrals to train stations to museums, these masterful displays showcase the remarkable talent that goes into creating the fragile art form

Some computer vision programs have been thrown off by tricks such as manipulating the pixels in an image.

Computers Are Getting Much Better at Image Recognition

The machine-learning programs that underpin their ability to “see” still have blind spots—but not for much longer

One of the finalists, titled "I Just Can't Wait to be King," captures lions appearing to sing.

See This Year’s Hilarious Finalists From the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards, From Gossiping Leopards to Breakdancing Foxes

The 40 shortlisted photographs pair talented nature photography with humorous captures that often rely on clicking the shutter at just the right moment

First-place winner: rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) on a grain of rice

These Beautiful Microscope Photos Capture Tiny Pests, Spores, Sensory Neurons and Sunflower Hairs

Nikon has announced the winners of its 51st annual photomicrography competition

A close-up of a gum leaf skeletonizer caterpillar, also known as a "Mad Hatterpillar" because of its distinctive stacked head capsules, left behind with every molt. The photo won the invertebrate behavior category.

See 15 Wondrous Winning Images From the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

The eye-catching wildlife photos highlight both the beauty and the harsh realities of nature

The European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captured images of 3I/ATLAS on October 3.

A Rare Interstellar Comet Just Flew by Mars—Here Are the Photos Captured by an Orbiting Spacecraft

The images offer the closest view yet of comet 3I/ATLAS, famous for being only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system

Projections of portraits and quotes grace the main concourse.

A Massive Art Installation by the ‘Humans of New York’ Creator Has Taken Over Grand Central Terminal

For two weeks, “Dear New York” will grace the train station’s walls, screens and ad space

The original dye transfer print for David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album cover, shot by Brian Duffy

The Iconic Cover of David Bowie’s ‘Aladdin Sane’ Could Become the Most Expensive Album Artwork Ever Sold

Shot by Brian Duffy in 1973, the famous lightning bolt print is estimated to break the record currently held by Led Zeppelin’s self-titled debut album

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