Photo of the Day: September 2021
The Portuguese city of Porto stands at the mouth of the Douro River. A story in the October 1984 issue travelled the Douro River from the Atlantic Ocean to central Spain.
At a souk, or market, in Manama, Bahrain, a vendor pours tea for a customer. A story in the September 1979 issue looked at Bahrain's economic and cultural role in the Persian Gulf.
Actress Grace Bradley Boyd, left, teaches tai chi to fellow seniors in Los Angeles, in a November 1997 story on ageing. Fittingly, Boyd would live to be 97 years old.
In this picture from the May 1969 issue, tourists marvel at the reconstructed Temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel, Egypt. The temple had been relocated the year prior to prevent destruction by rising waters after construction of the Aswan High Dam.
On Matura Beach, Trinidad, a leatherback turtle hatchling crawls to the sea. The journey from nest to sea is fraught with peril, so females will lay hundreds of eggs per season.
The sun rises on Kintla Peak in Montana's Glacier National Park. The park borders Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park, and together in 1932 the two parks were named the world's first International Peace Park.
| The patriarch of a family of antique dealers prepares to enjoy a meal during Eid at his home in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China. Kashgar's history dates back at least 2,000 years, and it was once an important stop on the Silk Road. |
| Sudan, the last male northern white rhino in the world, died in March 2018. Moments before his death, he was comforted by Joseph Wachira, one of his dedicated keepers at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya. |
With Mount Kilimanjaro looming in the background, elephants graze in Amboseli National Park, Kenya. Because of the constant presence of the Maasai, researchers, and tourists, elephants in the park don't experience much threat from poachers.
The June 2003 issue featured a diary of photographer Alexandra Boulat's experiences in Baghdad in March of the same year, just days before the U.S. began dropping bombs. In this photo, schoolboys armed with fake automatic rifles wait to greet foreign peace activists who had come to Baghdad to act as human shields.
In Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, a young grizzly bear walks by moose antlers on the shore of Naknek Lake. To prepare for winter, grizzlies will eat as much as 30 pounds of food a day.
| The November 1955 issue took readers on a journey to Egypt, where archaeologists had recently uncovered many ancient artefacts. In this photo, a student takes notes on funeral texts painted more than 3,000 years ago. |
A story in the March 2018 issue documented lakes around the world that are drying up. Iran's Lake Urmia, a popular tourist location pictured here, has shrunk 80 percent since the 1980s.
A story in the September 2006 issue featured a team of 12 people exploring and documenting a series of river caves in New Britain, an island off of Papua New Guinea. Here, one of the explorers attempts to cross Ora Waterfall, where the underground river bursts forth.
At the Western Wall in Jerusalem, prayer shawls cover members of a Jewish priesthood known as the Cohanim, who claim a shared ancestor. The photo appeared in an October 1999 story about genes.
The Science Barge floats down the Hudson River, bearing greenhouses full of vegetables. Featured in the March 2009 issue, the Science Barge is a prototype of a carbon-neutral hydroponic farm that can potentially be installed on city rooftops.
People work in the main reading room of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Library of Congress houses some 170 million items, making it a fitting subject for a photo in a March 1997 story about paper.
| A story in the May 1996 issue chronicled the life of explorer David Thompson, who surveyed roughly 1.5 million square miles of North America in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His journeys in 1796 took him to the falls of the Fond du Lac River in Saskatchewan. |
In Cornesti, Romania, a woman spins raw wool that will be used to make embroidered clothes for her family. This picture originally appeared in a July 2013 issue about the families who harvest hay meadows in Transylvania.
Even a baby blue whale makes an adult human look small. Blue whales are the largest animal ever known to exist—even larger than any dinosaur. At birth they can weigh five to six thousand pounds.
Kakenya Ntaiya reads with fourth graders at the boarding school for girls she founded in the village of Enoosaen, Kenya, in 2009. Since then, more than 500 girls have enrolled, pursuing education instead of being forced into early marriage.
In Dharavi, a community in Mumbai, India, revellers dance and throw coloured powders as part of a festival celebrating the elephant-headed god Ganesh, who offers good luck. Dharavi is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a million people packed into less than one square mile.
A windsurfer has a close encounter with two humpback whales in Bonavista Bay in Newfoundland. The province became part of Canada in 1949, and underwent an official name change to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001.
A story in the April 1996 issue examined "The Three Faces of Jerusalem," or why the city is holy to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. In this picture, Orthodox Jews approach the Western Wall, a holy site dating back to 19 B.C.
In this picture from the October 1969 issue, women trim pineapples on an assembly line at the Dole Company cannery in Honolulu, Hawaii. The story documented the influx of residents and tourists within the islands' first 10 years of statehood.
A worker harvests blooms at a flower farm in Southern California's Imperial Valley. Naturally arid, the region irrigates its crops with water diverted from the Colorado River.
A group of lionesses relax by a watering hole in Etosha National Park, Namibia. Female lions are faster than males, and are usually in charge of hunting food for the pride.
A bakery in Milpa Alta, Mexico, displays loaves of sweet bread in its windows. The bread is called concha, which means "shell," because of the pattern etched into the crusts.
A one-room schoolhouse stands alone in Sand Hills, Nebraska. At the time this story was published in October 1978, the school had just two students.
