Photo of the Day: May 2022
Three Japanese-American men pose for a portrait 70 years after they were incarcerated in Wyoming as teenagers. During World War II, more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent were sent to detention camps, simply because of who they were.
As part of the May 2008 special issue on China, one story focused on the rural village of Dimen. In this photo, a television actress has returned to the village for a visit, showing a recent performance to her grandmother.
A koala bear hugs a tree while her baby clings on to her back at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary near Brisbane, Australia. The sanctuary opened in 1927 with just two koalas named Jack and Jill.
Two people in Japan listen to a radio broadcast from the Central Broadcasting Station of Osaka through a small set held by the woman. The exact date of the autochrome is unknown but is thought to be from the late 1920s or early 1930s.
| Surfers prepare to warm up before a competition on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu. A story in the February 2015 issue documented the importance of surfing in native Hawaiian culture and history. |
A tiger mother named Sita moves one of her cubs to a safer spot in Bandhavgarh National Park, India. Less than a year after appearing on the cover of the December 1997 issue, Sita was killed by a poacher.
Twins share a swing at a park in Greenwich Village in New York City. This picture appeared in a January 2015 story about babies' brain development in the first year of life.
A loggerhead turtle swims in Hol Chan Marine Reserve, Belize. Loggerheads can weigh upwards of 400 pounds and live into their 60s.
Migratory beekeepers transfer bees from a thriving hive to a weaker one in Dos Palos, California. A story in the May 1993 issue documented the careers of beekeepers who transport hives all across the country to pollinate crops.
| A story in the October 2018 issue looked at Japanese-American internment during World War II. In this photo from 1942, a young woman smiles as her family enters the Santa Anita racetrack—then a temporary detention centre—not realising what was to come. |
Guests attend a poetry party in China in the mid to late 1920s. This portrait was taken by Juliet Bredon, who spent most of her life in China and published work with National Geographic under the name Adam Warwick.
Sixth graders line up in front of a Montezuma cypress in Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca, Mexico. This tree, which has a diameter of roughly 38 feet, appeared in a March 2017 story about famous trees around the world.
A story in the April 2013 issue followed people who search the Russian Arctic for ancient tusks from woolly mammoths. In this previously unpublished photo from that story, a tusk hunter removes a mammoth tusk from a frozen riverbed.
A flock of scarlet ibises takes flight in Venezuela. This photo appeared in an April 1998 story that documented life along the Orinoco River.
In a Central American rainforest, a bevy of red-eyed tree frogs engage in mating—with as many as four males trying to attach to one egg-laying female. This picture appeared in a November 2006 story about tree frogs.
A story in the September 1990 issue retraced the routes Spanish merchant ships took between Mexico and the Philippines. In this photo, Catholic worshippers in Cavite, Philippines, light fireworks after a Mass.
The entire May 2008 issue was dedicated to stories from China. In this photo from a culinary school in Hefei, chefs-in-training prepare vegetables in flaming woks.
An imperial shrimp camouflages itself in gills of a Spanish dancer off the coast of Bali, Indonesia. A Spanish dancer is a type of nudibranch, the subject of this June 2008 story.
A story in the October 2008 issue documented the changes brought by a superhighway connecting four major cities in India. In this photo, people hang out under the Golden Quadrilateral Highway in Muratganj, India.
A diver hunts clams and sea urchins off Ofu Island, in the National Park of American Samoa. The U.S. national park, the only one in the Southern Hemisphere, preserves 9,100 acres of a pristine tropical ecosystem.
A story in the July 1964 issue documented the vibrant culture of New York City, which was hosting the World's Fair at the time. Here, typesetters prepare pages for a daily Chinese newspaper.
At Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, Muslim women offer prayers at Id al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan. This picture appeared in an April 1996 story about Jerusalem, and the three religions that find their homes there.
In Nagano Prefecture, Japan, a woman pollinates pear blossoms by hand. This picture originally appeared in the October 1984 issue, in a story about pollen.
