Article and interview by Liz Lorang

hose of us who
had childhood dreams of working for
National Geographic Magazine might be surprised to learn that National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore’s
favorite assignment is the time he spent traveling and photographing Nebraska.
Where we might have dreamed of something more exotic, Sartore, a Nebraska
native who began working for the magazine in 1991, sees being close to home,
mingling among the state’s people, and sleeping in his own bed at the end of
the day—all while capturing compelling images—as the perfect assignment.

A number of
Sartore’s photographs from this perfect assignment first appeared in a National Geographic feature on the state in November 1998, and he later collected more Nebraska
photos for the book Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky, published by Nebraska Book Company in 1999. Described by Robert Nelson of the Omaha World-Herald as “a photographic celebration of
everything good about life in this state” and “a lasting document on why
somebody would choose to live here,” Under a Big Red Sky illustrates the quintessential Nebraska.

Continue reading “Assignment: Nebraska”

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