Some assignments take you around the world on small roads. Others land you on a highway with your plane.
In this first part of our two-part conversation with former National Geographic Staff photographer Robert “Bob” Madden, we step back into the magazine’s golden era and into a lifetime of assignments that took him across the world.
Bob began working with National Geographic in the late 1960s and eventually became one of the few staff photographers for the magazine. In this episode, we talk about those early years, the realities of traveling on assignment long before GPS or smartphones, and the many ways photographers found themselves getting to stories wherever they unfolded.
Instead of focusing on gear or technical details, this conversation takes a slightly different approach. We go straight into the stories behind some of Bob’s photographs — because often the most memorable part of an image is everything that happened before it was taken.
In Part 1, Bob shares the story behind his Guatemala earthquake bush-plane crash photograph, later selected by National Geographic as one of their 50 most iconic images, and the remarkable way he ended up photographing the return of Apollo 11. It’s a warm, funny, and insightful start to a conversation that continues in Part 2 — and trust us, you’ll want to be on board for that one!
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📸 See more of Bob's work:
https://bobmadden.com/
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Thanks for listening and look out for our next episode! 🚀
