As a photographer for National Geographic and many other publications, Bob Krist has worked in 100 countries on all seven continents. Along the way, his work has garnered top prizes in competitions that include the World Press Awards, Pictures of the Year, and Communication Arts. The American Society of Travel Writers named Krist its Travel Photographer of the Year three times. He is a regular lecturer at National Geographic LIVE events, a contributing editor/photographer emeritus at National Geographic Traveler magazine, and a member of Sony’s Artisans of Imagery. This is Krist’s eighth book as author/photographer. One of his earlier works, In Tuscany with Frances Mayes, was a New York Times bestseller.
Cover / Pedro, caretaker for the museum in an old plantation house outside Cienfuegos, Cuba Back cover / Sheep and Mont Saint-Michel, France
Old Souls & Timeless Places B O B
K R I S T
Old Souls & Timeless Places B O B
K R I S T
For more than four decades, photographer Bob Krist traveled on assignment for such prestigious U.S. magazines as National Geographic, Smithsonian, Travel + Leisure, and Gourmet, among others. That was before the age of Instagram and TripAdvisor, back when the world was a different place. Over the years, Krist artfully documented the people, cultures, and landscapes that he encountered. Today, many of the places he visited stand on the tipping point of mass tourism—at risk of being irrevocably changed by the juggernaut of selfie culture and the pursuit of “likes.” Old Souls & Timeless Places is a collection of rare, indelible images that show the very special people Bob Krist has met on his journeys, and the places he can’t forget.
BOB KRIST
Bob Krist on location in Ireland
OLD SOULS & TIMELESS PLACES
Bob Krist
Cheroot Smoking Woman, Myanmar
Old Souls & Timeless Places BOB KRIST
OLD SOULS & TIMELESS PLACES
Old Soul / This Peruvian woman’s weathered face almost resembles carved teak. I met her on Taquile, an island in Lake Titicaca. 2
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OLD SOULS & TIMELESS PLACES
Machu Picchu / The Inca city of Machu Picchu was built in the mountains of Peru around 1450–1470 as a royal estate for the Emperor Pachacuti. The Incas abandoned the complex a century later, at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Shrouded by vegetation, the ruins remained largely unknown until 1911, when American explorer Hiram Bingham first visited—and told the world. 4
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Introduction As I approach my seventh decade on the planet, there are very few things
It’s hard to say exactly what attracts me to my subjects. It could be a
of which I am sure. But one of them is that “the only constant is change.”
stubborn quirkiness, an unrepentant eccentricity, or just an overwhelming
I know, I know; it’s not a exactly an original thought. Heraclitus first
strength of character. But it’s always an ineffable quality that seems to lift
wrote that line around 500 BC, in the same era when, a continent away,
them right out of our contemporary milieu and into something that seems
the Buddha was building an entire philosophy and worldwide religion
more like history, and less like a Facebook timeline.
around a similar concept.
They are the old souls, and while that designation has nothing to
Just because it’s an enduring truth, though, doesn’t mean I have to like it. It’s not the change itself that throws me; I understand it, I even do my best to embrace it.
do with their actual age, it is true that a large proportion of the people in these pages are not children. That’s to be expected. But some are children, and that speaks to the surprising quality that
No, the reason I’m not comfortable with the idea is that most of the
makes for an “old soul.” Truthfully, I’m not sure what qualifies one as an
change I see in my travels these days seems to be strictly in the direction
“old soul,” other than a quality that makes me want to try to know them
of homogenization. Places, things, and people are constantly changing,
better and hopefully, do justice to their character in a photograph. As in
it’s true, but they’re changing by becoming more and more similar to
the famous quote about pornography in the Supreme Court ruling, I can’t
one another.
really define it, but I know when I see it.
A lot of the craggy rough spots that created the character lines
It’s not only people, though; certain places affect me that way too.
in the different faces of our world culture are being smoothed out and
Whether it’s their sheer scale and grandeur or their isolation and difficulty
erased. We lose one of the world’s 7,000 languages every two weeks as
of approach, many of these places have been passed over by, or been
more small indigenous cultures are being wiped out. The world is getting
able to stand up to, the pressures of globalization (although sadly, for
smaller, but often, not in a good way.
some, perhaps not against the ravages of Instagram).
At the same time, the boom in selfie culture is rapidly changing
There is a spirit in some places and people that is special and
travel into a kind of global Disneyland popularity contest. YouTube
enduring. And whenever I encountered that spirit during my decades of
and Facebook are full of travel images and films which are basically
travel, it stopped me in my tracks. My assignment took a temporary back
people photographing themselves in front of famous and spectacular
seat as I attempted to capture this spirit, whether it related to the story I
locations. It’s all about trophy-hunting tourism images, not about authentic
was shooting, or not.
encounters with the people or their culture.
And for reasons I’m still not sure of, more often than not, I tried to
In my decades of travel and photography, I’ve been attracted to
shoot these encounters in black and white, instead of my usual color
people and places that defy homogenization, and I’ve been lucky enough
palette. For me, the black and white image seems more enduring as well.
to spend enough time when I visited them to get to know them, and be able to look for more than the trophy snapshots.
BOB KRIST
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This book is a collection of those people and those places.
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HARPSWELL, MAINE, SEPTEMBER 2018
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EUROPE & THE UNITED KINGDOM
SCOTLAND
Stones of Callanish / The Stones of Callanish are found on the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Archaeologists believe their placement might have occurred as early as 3400 BC, perhaps for the purpose of astronomical observation.
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Jarlshof / Jarlshof, a complex of ancient settlements, sits on
Mick and Dog / I met Mick and his dog, Alpha, on Mainland, the
Sumburgh Head near the southern tip of the Shetland Mainland, in Scotland. Archeologists have found evidence of more than 4,000 years of human occupation, from the late Neolithic Age to the 17th century.
largest of Scotland’s Orkney Islands. Having been injured in a tractor accident, they’d come to Kirkwall to see the doctor and the vet. Fortunately, the two were on the mend when I caught up with them.
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Staffa / No one lives on Staffa, an island in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, but sightseers come by boat to visit Fingal’s Cave, whose hexagonal basalt columns were formed by a Paleocene lava flow. The sea cave’s natural acoustics have fascinated travelers for centuries, including Sir Walter Scott and Jules Verne. Mendelssohn wrote “The Hebrides Overture” (also known as “Fingal’s Cave Overture”) after a visit in the 1800s.
Jim Bruce / Jim Bruce hails from Edinburgh, but after marrying a lass from the Isle of Lewis he made this isolated island his home. Bruce works as an innkeeper and guide; he’s shown here in a blackhouse, or traditional stone cottage, that’s been preserved to show the islanders’ former way of life. 12
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Traveler at Callanish / The Stones of Callanish draw Druids, New Agers, and spiritual seekers of all kinds. This man told me he planned to spend the night among the stones, accompanied only by his dog.
Stones of Callanish / The Stones of Callanish are found on the Isle of Lewis, in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Archaeologists believe their placement might have occurred as early as 3400 BC, perhaps for the purpose of astronomical observation. 14
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IRELAND
Dísert Bhreacáin (the Seven Churches) / Stone crosses and building ruins still remain at Dísert Bhreacáin (the Seven Churches), a monastic foundation on Inishmore, one of Ireland’s Aran Islands. The site was an important pilgrimage center from the 8th to the 13th century.
Con Cunningham / For decades, Con Cunningham worked on the pitching decks of fishing boats in the North Atlantic, until his hips gave out and had to be replaced. Now retired from the herring and mackerel trade, this resident of Killybegs, in Donegal, Ireland, spends his days at the Glencolmcille Folk Village, demonstrating skills picked up from a lifetime at sea— like net-mending.
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ENGLAND
Stout in Marazion / A regular enjoys a Guinness at the Kings Arms, a pub in Marazion, Cornwall.
Catching up on The Times / Making a quick stop on the way to market, a woman catches up on the news at the Market Inn pub, in Truro, Cornwall, UK.
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Pirate in Falmouth / This pirate/singer, who goes by the name Mr. Eagles, was performing at the annual International Sea Shanty Festival in Falmouth, Cornwall.
Sailboats / A group of luggers, or gaff-rigged sailboats, cruise off the coast of Cornwall near Looe. The historic craft were taking part in a weekend regatta. 20
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Window Reader in Winchester / Reading by window light in the Wykeham Arms, in Winchester. This classic pub sits right between Winchester Cathedral (made famous by the pop song) and Winchester College, a boys boarding school that’s older than Eton and Harrow.
Melancholy in Coverack / My wife, Peggy, and I came across 84-year-old Tony at a pub in Coverack, a Cornish fishing village. He’d lost his wife that year, and he was alone in the pub this afternoon because most town folk were attending the funeral of his dear friend Norman. He just couldn’t face being there, he told us. Peggy got him reminiscing about his wife and Norman, and even coaxed a few smiles. By the time his friends filed in after the service, Tony’s mood had lifted.
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ICELAND
Country Church / Stรณra-ร skirkja, a one-room wooden church in a remote farming region in western Iceland, not far from the Langjรถkull (Long Glacier). The church dates back to the late 1800s. 24
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Farm Couple / Anna Betúelsdóttir and
Hermit Priest / A poet and a priest of the pagan Norse religion, Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson had a small farm in western Iceland. In the 1980s, he regularly walked up to the gates of the big NATO base in Keflavik carrying a paper-mâché horsehead on a pole. He’d stay at the gates for hours, chanting incantations to make the base go away. There’s no longer a NATO base in Iceland, but the pagan Norse religion is officially recognized—and still practiced. 26
her brother, Guðmundur Betúelsson, ran a small farm in one of northwestern Iceland’s most isolated fjords. I visited them with the parish priest, who made his rounds up and down the fjords by motorboat because it was faster and easier than driving. Apparently I was the first American they’d seen in the flesh. Both were near 100 when they died in the 1990s. 27
FRANCE Sheep and Mont Saint-Michel / A phalanx of sheep graze by the approach road to France’s beautiful Mont Saint-Michel, built in the 8th century to house a monastery. The island was once accessible only at low tide; today it can be reached by bridge and causeway. The unusual color of the grasses is due to the use of an infrared black-and-white camera.
Beynac Archway / An ancient stone arch and walkway at Beynac castle, on the Dordogne River in France. During the Hundred Years War, Beynac was a bastion for the French, who battled the English holed up across the river in Castelnaud. 28
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I TA LY
Man Pouring Wine / Nello, a farmer near the Tuscan hill town of Cortona, decants a jug of vino sfuso—the rough farmhouse wine that’s a staple among country folk in this part of Italy.
Foggy Chapel / Early morning fog wreathes the hills around the Cappella di Vitaleta, a tiny chapel outside Pienza, in Tuscany.
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ROMANIA
Riverside Baker / Etelka Keresztes serves homemade bread made with the flour she grinds herself in her waterwheel-driven mill on the banks of a stream in Batoni Mio, Transylvania, Romania.
Putting Up Hay / Near the end of summer in the small village of Miklosvar, in the portion of Romania known as Transylvania, a farmer puts up hay for the coming season. 32
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NORTH AMERICA
Mount Rushmore / Inspecting for cracks and damages, a National Park Service officer is dwarfed by the carved heads of the presidents at Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota. 34
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Blind Weaver in Monument Valley /
Clearing Storm in Monument Valley / A storm clears to reveal a classic
Susie Yazzie, considered the Navajo matriarch of Utah’s Monument Valley, was surely one of the last great symbols of the Old West. Renowned as a weaver and storyteller, she even appeared onscreen in several John Ford movies filmed in Monument Valley.
view of the Mittens, the iconic rock formations of Monument Valley.
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Devil’s Tower / Devil’s Tower, a butte made up of igneous rock
Pensive Laredo / Decades of experience are etched into the lines in the
in northeastern Wyoming, was the first United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. It was the site of the climactic scenes in the popular 1977 movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
face of a cowboy in Williams, Arizona, who goes by the name of “Laredo.”
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Preservation Hall, New Orleans / Preservation Hall, in the French Quarter of New Orleans, began in the 1950s as an art gallery that occasionally held informal jazz sessions. By the ’60s it had become a full-time concert venue; it now hosts more than 350 performances a year.
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Uncle Lionel Batiste / The man known for decades as Uncle Lionel Batiste (1931–2012) was a New Orleans jazz and blues musician. Besides being the bass drummer, vocalist, and assistant leader of the Treme Brass Band, he was famous as a dapper man about town—and as a role model. One musician credited Uncle Lionel with teaching him “how to act, how to dress, how to feel about life.”
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Preservation Wall / Ken Terry was just starting out when I photographed him outside Preservation Hall, but he has been a trumpeter, jazz vocalist, and band leader in New Orleans for over 30 years now, and is known as the Satchmo of the Seventh Ward.
Kid on the Stoop / George Colar, aka Kid Sheik and his wife, pianist Sadie Goodson, were New Orleans jazz fixtures, He was a long-term performer with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and she was one of the six piano-playing Goodson Sisters.
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Philip Simmons / From 1938 until the early 2000s, the celebrated blacksmith Philip Simmons (1912–2009) fashioned more than 500 pieces of ornamental wrought iron for the city of Charleston, South Carolina. His elegant gates, fences, balconies, and window grills can be seen throughout Charleston— as well as in places like the National Museum of American History.
Oak Alley, St. Helena Island, SC / A horse and rider take their time along the Avenue of Oaks, a road that leads to Coffin Point Plantation on South Carolina’s St. Helena Island. 44
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Joe Albert / Another Piney legend, Joe Albert had a place deep in the Barrens, where the deer were so accustomed to his presence they’d eat apples right out of his mouth. Joe and Sam Hunt were both members of the Pineconers, a jug band that jammed at Joe’s place, and later in a garage off Route 9 in Waretown. Today, a small Waretown theater called the Albert Music Hall hosts country musicians from across the US for weekend concerts.
Sam Hunt, Waretown, NJ / The exuberant Sam Hunt was a Piney, the nickname for those who live in the Pine Barrens area in southern New Jersey. Besides being a master banjo and harmonica player, Sam was a skilled woodworker who built steam-bent rocking chairs and the Barnegat Bay duck-hunting boats called “sneakboxes.” Examples of his work have been exhibited at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
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The Palouse from Steptoe Butte / The Palouse, seen here from Steptoe Butte, is a vast and fertile landscape of rolling hills and farms in eastern Washington and Oregon. The region is the second largest wheat- and lentil-growing area in the world. 48
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MEXICO
Pyramid / Monte Alban, outside Oaxaca, Mexico, was one of the earliest cities in Mesoamerica, built between 500 and 300 BC. For almost 1,000 years it was the capital of the Pre-Columbian Zapotec people, until they abandoned it around 700 AD. 50
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Rodeo / A charreria, or Mexican rodeo, takes place outside the town of San Miguel de Allende. These events started during the time of the great haciendas, when teams of horsemen from the bigger ranches would compete to show off their riding and roping prowess. While the haciendas are gone, the charreria tradition still continues today.
Cowboy in Bar / A young charro (cowboy) sits in an old mezcaleria in Mineral de Pozos, a half-forsaken mining town in Guanajuato, Mexico.
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Horseman with Pike / A young picador holds his lance, or vara, as he solemnly awaits his call to the corrida (bullfight) in San Miguel de Allende.
Horsecart / The Hacienda of San Diego del Jaral de Berrio, in the northern part of Guanajuato State, was once the largest estate in Mexico. These days it’s often used as a movie location, to recreate street scenes from another era.
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Matador Glance / A matador throws a last glance behind him
Three Matadors / Two veterans lend a helping hand, making
before heading into the corrida in San Miguel de Allende.
last-minute adjustments to a young matador’s outfit at a bullfight in San Miguel de Allende.
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Interior Window Shadow / A crumbling corridor at Jaral de Interior / Today the Hacienda of San Diego del Jaral de Berrio lies mostly in ruin, but this evocative interior view offers hints of its splendid heyday.
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Berrio. Besides being used as a movie set, the estate is where the Jaral de Berrio mezcal is produced and bottled.
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CUBA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Old Car in Old Havana / For years, Cuba’s Old Havana has been the epicenter of vintage American cars from the mid-20th century. 60
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The Matron / The Matron, a Spiritual Baptist midwife, operated a two-bed clinic in the hills of Tobago. Over the years she delivered more than 1,000 babies there; the book she holds lists their names.
Kneeling Man / I met Robert Smith at a small church on Long Island in the Bahamas. He told me he’d been a parishioner there for 77 of his 83 years. 62
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Island Historian / Winston Zack Nisbett is the founder and sole curator of the Challenger International House Museum in Basseterre, St.Kitts. The facility is a trove of documents and artifacts detailing the history of this Caribbean island. 64
Cricketers / Cricket players in the clubhouse of the Queen’s Park Oval Cricket Club in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The club is the largest facility in the West Indies for this popular sport. 65
Boys with Roosters / These boys were proud to pose with
Pedro / Caretaker for the museum in an old plantation house
their roosters on a street in Cienfuegos, Cuba.
outside Cienfuegos, Cuba, Pedro leafed through books that detail the plantation’s sugar-mill operations in the 1950s.
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Rasta in Bar / I met Silvero in an old bar around the corner from
Old Bassman / Even at age 88, bass player Reye Urgelles says
the National Museum of Fine Arts in Old Havana.
he has the energy of a much younger man—because “playing the beautiful music” keeps him youthful. I heard him at a roadside restaurant near Cuba’s Bay of Pigs, and can’t deny that he and his band had major chops.
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ASIA, THE PACIFIC & AFRICA
Stone Face / The Bayon Temple, in the Angkor Thom complex of temples in Cambodia, was built in the late 12th or early 13th century. Among its many stone carvings are depictions of the smiling face of Avalokiteshvara, a bodhisattva (enlightened being) of compassion in the lore of Mahayana Buddhism. About 200 of these faces, in various sizes and states of disrepair, appear throughout the temple. 70
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ASIA
Morose Girl / I spotted this young souvenir seller gazing from Cheroot Smoking Woman / A woman in a shore village on Myanmar’s Lake Inle takes a break from hauling logs to puff on a cheroot. 72
a window in one of the many temples in Bagan, Myanmar, She looked so morose I asked my guide to see if she was okay. She told him she was sad because she’d fought with her boyfriend.
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Smiling Sadhu / A sadhu, or holy man, sits and smiles on the steps of a temple in Bhaktapur, Nepal, near Kathmandu.
Camel Walla and Taj / In the days before terrorism, it wasn’t unusual to find camel wallahs plying their trade behind India’s Taj Mahal. These days, this area along the Yamuna River is often fenced off and monitored by military personnel in towers, armed with machine guns. 74
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Dunes at Khongoryn Els / Caravans of camels and their riders have crossed the huge sand dunes of Khongoryn Els, in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, since the time of Chinggis Khan. The hills are often called the “singing dunes” because of the sounds made by the winds whipping across them.
Dervish Dance / At the other end of Asia from the Mongolian dunes, Sufis known as Whirling Dervishes perform in a small temple on the banks of the Bosphurus in Istanbul, Turkey.
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Wrestlers / Mongolia is known for its wrestlers, who often compete at naadams, or country rodeos, like this one being held in the Gobi Desert. These days many of the top professional sumo wrestlers in Japan are Mongolian.
Shepherdess in Blizzard / As a blizzard hits the Gobi Desert, a young shepherd hustles her flock back to the safety of the corral.
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THE PACIFIC
Ahu Akivi, Easter Island / For years archeologists have hotly debated the origins and meaning of the giant moai, or stone heads, on Easter Island (or Rapa Nui, as it’s called by its inhabitants), off the coast of Chile. And yet the stones remain shrouded in mystery. The seven moai at Ahu Akivi, shown here, are the only ones that were placed inland, and also the only ones facing the water. 80
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Pu’uonua Ohonaunau ( The Place of Refuge) / These
Tattoo Artist / Roonui is widely recognized as one of the world’s
distinctive ki’i (wood carvings) are part of Pu’uhonua O Honaunau, a national historic park on Hawaii’s Big Island. In ancient Polynesian culture, someone who broke the sacred laws, or kapu, had only to reach the nearest pu’uhonua (place of refuge) to be safe from the penalty of death, the usual fate of miscreants.
foremost tahua tatataus, or traditional Polynesian tattoo artists. He recently relocated his studio from Moorea to Tahiti, in French Polynesia.
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Koro the Woodworker / Woodcarver Koro is a legend on Rapa Nui. I’ve photographed him several times over the course of almost 20 years, and his ebullience seems to grow with the ever-increasing size of his topknot. He teased me the last time I saw him, saying, “Papi, we are both getting old, but at least I still have some hair on my head!”
Lone Moai / Some of the moai on Rapa Nui, like this one, wear stone hats that actually represent topknots—hair tied up in a ball on top of the head. According to ancient beliefs, supernatural power (or mana) was preserved in the hair, which is why chieftains never cut their hair. 84
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AFRICA
Elephants on the Serengeti / A family of elephants makes its way across Tanzania’s broad Serengeti Plain. 86
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Ethiopian Face / This Ethiopian army veteran passes his retirement days hanging out and chatting with friends around the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, in eastern Ethiopia. The 11 churches are the largest rock sculptures in the world.
Anse Source D’Argent, La Digue, Seychelle Islands / Anse Source d’Argent is a stunning beach that’s become famous for its huge granite boulders and powdery sands. You’ll find it on La Digue, one of the largest islands in the Seychelles archipelago, off the coast of east Africa. 88
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Ethiopian Priests / White-robed Ethiopian Orthodox priests chant and pray during a saints day celebration in Lalibela. In the early fourth century, Ethiopia was one of the first nations to adopt Christianity; Lalibela’s churches date back some 900 years—and are still in use today.
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Ethiopian Priest / An Ethiopian Orthodox priest inside the Church of St. George in Lalibela.
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Dhows in front of Stonetown / The island of Zanzibar, off the coast of Tanzania and now part of that country, has always been a waypoint in the trade routes between Africa, Arabia, and the rest of the world. Traditional sailing ships called dhows, seen here just off Stonetown, the island’s capital, are still responsible for much of the trade today.
Mozambique Woman / A young woman on Ibo Island, in the Quirimbas archipelago of Mozambique, wears a mask of white powder made from the stalks of the mussiro (or n’siro) plant. The powder is thought to protect and beautify the skin.
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BOB KRIST
Bob Krist is a freelance photographer whose assignments for National
Leisure, Popular Photography, and Outdoor Photographer magazines.
Geographic and other clients have taken him over 150 countries on all
His how-to book Spirit of Place: The Art of The Traveling Photographer
seven continents, and whose photographs have won awards in the World
(Amphoto Books, NY) was hailed by American Photographer magazine
Press Photo, Pictures of the Year, and Communication Arts competitions.
as “the best book about travel photography we’ve ever read.”
During his work, he has been stranded on a glacier in Iceland,
He lectures on behalf of the “Live at the National Geographic”
nearly run down by charging bulls in southern India, and knighted with
series and recently launched a comprehensive course, The
a cutlass during a Trinidad voodoo ceremony. He won the title of “Travel
Fundamentals of Travel Photography, for National Geographic in
Photographer of the Year” from the Society of American Travel Writers
collaboration with The Great Courses. He is a member of Sony’s
in 1994, 2007, and 2008.
Artisans of Imagery program.
Bob’s books include the New York Times bestseller In Tuscany with
A former professional actor, Bob hosted Nature’s Best
Frances Mayes (Broadway Books, NY) He also photographed the coffee
Photography, a 13-part series for National Wildlife Productions on the
table books Caribbean, Portrait of the Caribbean and Low Country:
Outdoor Life Network, and Photography Close Up for Cablevision.
Charleston to Savannah (Graphic Arts Center Publishing), A Photo Tour
He was the host of a one hour special, called Restoration Stories, for
of New York (Photo Secrets Publishing, San Diego), and Impressions of
American Public Broadcasting.
Bucks County (Old Mill Productions, New Hope PA). An accomplished writer as well as a photographer, Bob has served as a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler, Travel &
Bob lives in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico with his wife Peggy. They are the parents of three sons, Matthew, Brian, and Jonathan
Mount Eystrahorn / Mount Eystrahorn, in the southeast corner of Iceland, is veiled in low-hanging clouds. Although it is only 756 meters tall, it has a reputation as being virtually unclimbable because of the huge amount of loose mineral debris that causes almost constant landslides whenever anyone tries to climb up through it.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have been fortunate to have known, and been encouraged by, some remarkable people in the photographic community.
grateful. But there were many others along the way who kept it going. I’d like to thank Dan Westergren, Carol Enquist, and Linda
There are three men, though, who stand out in my mind because
Meyerriecks at National Geographic Traveler, Gene Daniels of
they gave me a break when I was just starting out, and that’s the when
Boys Life, Albert Chiang of Islands, and Steve Connatser of Traveler
the breaks are hardest to find.
Overseas, as well as Ben and Howard Chapnick at Black Star.
Bill Black was the young photo editor at Travel & Leisure who
Kayla Lindquist and the rest of the Sony family are so supportive
kept putting me and my work in front of Adrian Taylor, the visionary
and a joy to work with. Other industry stalwarts include Lindsay
art director, until Adrian gave me my first big assignment. We three
Silverman, Sam Garcia, John Cole, and Mike Corrado.
worked together for many happy years and Bill and I worked together
Chuck O’Rear, Ian Lloyd, Richard Ellis, Mike Yamashita, Ragnar
later when he was Director of Photography at Travel/Holiday, and still
Axelsson, Wendy Paton, and Andrew Hudson are all colleagues who
collaborate to this day on video projects for a worthy non-profit.
have mentored and inspired me along the way,
Bob Gilka, the legendary director of photography of National
Barbara Peck was my column editor at Travel & Leisure and
Geographic from 1963 to 1985, gave me another key opportunity in
Endless Vacation and made the text in this book presentable too.
assigning me to cover my home state of New Jersey in 1980 and that
Thanks to Phil Unetic, Bob Tursack and Peter Philbin for bringing this
started my long association with the Geographic. He was a tough
book to fruition.
guy with a heart of gold, and made such an impression on me that I
But the most thanks goes to my wife Peggy and our sons
cannot to this day think of him without affection, (and without getting
Matthew, Brian, and Jonathan. Without their love and support over the
butterflies in my stomach!).
years, and understanding of the long absences my career entailed,
But for the help of these three gentlemen my career as a
nothing would have been possible.
freelance photographer may not have launched and I am forever
Old Souls & Timeless Places / Copyright ©2019 by Bob Krist / ISBN 978-0-578-51217-4 Editor / Barbara Peck Design / Phillip Unetic, UneticDesign.com Printing / Brilliant, Exton, PA, brilliant-graphics.com
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