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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Photographer Bill Allen

Aired November 09, 2003 - 16:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: The best "National Geographic" photos you that never saw are now out there for you to see. This month the venerated magazine features its 100 best-unpublished pictures. So why are they so special if they didn't make print the first time around? Well, let's ask "National Geographic" Editor-in-Chief Bill Allen. He joins me right here in Washington. Thanks for joining us.
BILL ALLEN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: My pleasure.

ARENA: So tell me, what inspired this concept?

ALLEN: Well, there's so many great photographs that our photographers come back with that we wanted to have a chance for other people to see those things that we've sort of been keeping to ourselves for a while and to give the photographers a chance to say hey, these are some things that I think we really should let other people see.

ARENA: OK, so the photographers picked their favorite photos?

ALLEN: They picked -- a lot of photographers picked their favorite pictures and sent them in. We went through all of those and then worked with them to come up with this selection of 100 best.

ARENA: All right, well, let's look at them. The first one I think was -- there it is. It's sort of how I feel many times. Tell us about this one.

ALLEN: I know that feeling very well. This is a picture from the top of the John Hancock building when there was an antenna repairman working out there. And this picture didn't run because the picture that we finally ran from 100 stories up was of the man lying out on a little beam to reach a light bulb out there.

ARENA: OK, we'll go to the next one, which reminds me of Cruella De Ville. There we go.

ALLEN: Well, this is from the Boston area, and the funny thing about this, it's a fake fur coat, by the way but when the woman puts on this coat --

ARENA: Yes, for all the Peta members watching.

ALLEN: That's right. When she puts on the coat she says, well, actually, then my dog thinks that I'm her mother.

ARENA: Understandable, OK, let's go to our next photo. Yes, oh, this is this famous hunter.

ALLEN: He's a very famous tracker who is quite phenomenal. Our photographer struck up a real friendship with him and has photographed him over five years. This man can go along and see this very faint track in the sand that you and I would probably miss. And he can almost tell you which specific animal, not just which gazelle but also which specific one made that.

ARENA: So what picture made it -- this is awesome.

ALLEN: Well, there's another photograph that we had of a hunter running with two hunting dogs that he had, and it was a very action shot with a lot of blur in it and motion, and we felt that that really captured the feeling of hunting in Africa better than this did.

ARENA: OK, so not just the quality of the pictures but obviously the message.

ALLEN: That's it, because that's always the thing behind it, we're trying to tell a story.

ARENA: All right, now, let's look at this one.

ALLEN: Oh, this is a classic, this is from -- this is Jim Stanfield's shot, this in Chile. He was down there shooting a story on Charles Darwin. Now, this has nothing to do with Charles Darwin, but put a good situation in front of a photographer and what are they going to do? They're going to shoot great pictures. So this picture was a wonderful picture, but it didn't fit with the story that was being told. So it never made the magazine.

ARENA: OK, well, it has its day now; let's move on, oh, yeah, this was another favorite.

ALLEN: Oh, a lovely picture off the east coast of South Africa, of our South African park story, shot by Chris Johns. The reason this didn't make it is that we used a much wider shot, which showed the extent of this bird colony. It was just enormous, and this is just a lovely shot, but we really needed to at the time story a little bit better by showing the extent of the birds.

ARENA: OK, moving on, I think we have one more. Oh, yes, the naming ceremony?

ALLEN: A naming ceremony from the blood Indians in Alberta, Canada. This is a medicine man, or a tribal elder, holding up the young girl to name this girl in a tribal ceremony that goes back thousands of years.

ARENA: It's very intimate, a very intimate moment here.

ALLEN: It is, and it's something that our photographers were able to get into because they go to these places and spend so much time and work with the people and get to know them. Someone just casually walking by would never be able to get such a picture.

ARENA: Right and our last one disturbed me being a mother. I want to say back away from the children, please. What is this?

ALLEN: A this is from a story on Connecticut, and again, it didn't quite fit the actual theme of the story. This was at Martha Stewart's estate in Connecticut. And it was for what was probably -- it was described as our photographer as may have been, oh, the most orchestrated Easter egg hunt ever, and the kids had to give back the best decorated eggs, and it kind of hacked the kids off, but I'm sure her house looked great.

ARENA: Bill Allen, thank you so much for joining us.

ALLEN: My pleasure.

ARENA: And thanks for explaining all that.

ALLEN: Sure thing.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 9, 2003 - 16:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: The best "National Geographic" photos you that never saw are now out there for you to see. This month the venerated magazine features its 100 best-unpublished pictures. So why are they so special if they didn't make print the first time around? Well, let's ask "National Geographic" Editor-in-Chief Bill Allen. He joins me right here in Washington. Thanks for joining us.
BILL ALLEN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: My pleasure.

ARENA: So tell me, what inspired this concept?

ALLEN: Well, there's so many great photographs that our photographers come back with that we wanted to have a chance for other people to see those things that we've sort of been keeping to ourselves for a while and to give the photographers a chance to say hey, these are some things that I think we really should let other people see.

ARENA: OK, so the photographers picked their favorite photos?

ALLEN: They picked -- a lot of photographers picked their favorite pictures and sent them in. We went through all of those and then worked with them to come up with this selection of 100 best.

ARENA: All right, well, let's look at them. The first one I think was -- there it is. It's sort of how I feel many times. Tell us about this one.

ALLEN: I know that feeling very well. This is a picture from the top of the John Hancock building when there was an antenna repairman working out there. And this picture didn't run because the picture that we finally ran from 100 stories up was of the man lying out on a little beam to reach a light bulb out there.

ARENA: OK, we'll go to the next one, which reminds me of Cruella De Ville. There we go.

ALLEN: Well, this is from the Boston area, and the funny thing about this, it's a fake fur coat, by the way but when the woman puts on this coat --

ARENA: Yes, for all the Peta members watching.

ALLEN: That's right. When she puts on the coat she says, well, actually, then my dog thinks that I'm her mother.

ARENA: Understandable, OK, let's go to our next photo. Yes, oh, this is this famous hunter.

ALLEN: He's a very famous tracker who is quite phenomenal. Our photographer struck up a real friendship with him and has photographed him over five years. This man can go along and see this very faint track in the sand that you and I would probably miss. And he can almost tell you which specific animal, not just which gazelle but also which specific one made that.

ARENA: So what picture made it -- this is awesome.

ALLEN: Well, there's another photograph that we had of a hunter running with two hunting dogs that he had, and it was a very action shot with a lot of blur in it and motion, and we felt that that really captured the feeling of hunting in Africa better than this did.

ARENA: OK, so not just the quality of the pictures but obviously the message.

ALLEN: That's it, because that's always the thing behind it, we're trying to tell a story.

ARENA: All right, now, let's look at this one.

ALLEN: Oh, this is a classic, this is from -- this is Jim Stanfield's shot, this in Chile. He was down there shooting a story on Charles Darwin. Now, this has nothing to do with Charles Darwin, but put a good situation in front of a photographer and what are they going to do? They're going to shoot great pictures. So this picture was a wonderful picture, but it didn't fit with the story that was being told. So it never made the magazine.

ARENA: OK, well, it has its day now; let's move on, oh, yeah, this was another favorite.

ALLEN: Oh, a lovely picture off the east coast of South Africa, of our South African park story, shot by Chris Johns. The reason this didn't make it is that we used a much wider shot, which showed the extent of this bird colony. It was just enormous, and this is just a lovely shot, but we really needed to at the time story a little bit better by showing the extent of the birds.

ARENA: OK, moving on, I think we have one more. Oh, yes, the naming ceremony?

ALLEN: A naming ceremony from the blood Indians in Alberta, Canada. This is a medicine man, or a tribal elder, holding up the young girl to name this girl in a tribal ceremony that goes back thousands of years.

ARENA: It's very intimate, a very intimate moment here.

ALLEN: It is, and it's something that our photographers were able to get into because they go to these places and spend so much time and work with the people and get to know them. Someone just casually walking by would never be able to get such a picture.

ARENA: Right and our last one disturbed me being a mother. I want to say back away from the children, please. What is this?

ALLEN: A this is from a story on Connecticut, and again, it didn't quite fit the actual theme of the story. This was at Martha Stewart's estate in Connecticut. And it was for what was probably -- it was described as our photographer as may have been, oh, the most orchestrated Easter egg hunt ever, and the kids had to give back the best decorated eggs, and it kind of hacked the kids off, but I'm sure her house looked great.

ARENA: Bill Allen, thank you so much for joining us.

ALLEN: My pleasure.

ARENA: And thanks for explaining all that.

ALLEN: Sure thing.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com