Randy Olson

The @magnumphotos Square Print Sale is on until Sunday, October 27, in partnership with @thephotosociety . Link in bio. This is an excerpt from the Guardian story about these photographs: These bird hunters are near a Harappan archaeological site in the Indus River Valley and employ techniques depicted on ancient terra cotta pots from 5000 years ago. The region around Mohenjo Daro was notorious for kidnappings. It was a lawless area with groups of bandits operating together. We ventured beyond the protected area of the archaeological site and I saw a group of men carrying carefully wrapped bird heads, and arranged to join them the following day. I had been assigned a lone guard with an AK and I knew the bandits worked in groups of six. I asked the guard what would happen if they confronted us. He said “either they are lucky or I am lucky.” I got rid of the guard who was willing to start a firefight because the kidnappers hadn’t ever hurt anyone… they just wanted the money. I’d rather National Geographic ended up poorer than I end up dead. These people that do these ancient traditions are poor. They hunt to feed their families. They wear bird hats made from herons they’ve previously captured and eaten, and tie other live herons to hoops as decoys, as seen in the picture. They submerge themselves up to their chins, mimicking birds to attract waterfowl. When the birds approach, the hunters grab them by hand. Twice, I’ve woken up to find the airport I was supposed to fly into had been burned to the ground. And there’ve been times when I’ve gone to extreme lengths to get somewhere, like in Sudan, where dust storms thwarted my plans for aerial shots after weeks of preparation. Once you get through all the travel and finally are in front of a scene like this, the real fear is you will miss the opportunity to capture something extraordinary. Yet, the few successes make it all worthwhile.

The night of this photograph, I bedded down in the blind that was a cold, plywood shack. I typically photographed cranes in the morning because they land at night and fly away as it gets light. There were thousands of cranes landing in front of the blind—and then the storm rolled in, and there was significant lightning right behind the birds. I put the camera on a tripod and started pumping the shutter, making sequential 30-second exposures. This shot captured the lightning and the birds in motion. I’ve never photographed this many creatures in front of lightning, even though in the past I’ve done entire stories devoted to weather. There’s often a feeder strike that’s barely visible, and then the lightning strikes. The lightning actually explodes from the ground up. So when you look at the birds, because of the long exposure, you actually see them twice. They are lit once by the feeder strike (blurs) and the second time by the blast of lightning where they appear sharp. - Available @natgeofineart #cranes #storms #lightning #Nebraska @thephotosociety #weather

Hard to believe all travel is banned in India. On Tuesday, the Indian prime minister declared a national lockdown aimed at preventing the spread of the COVD-19 virus. Hoping our friends there are safe. @vinaydiddee #coronavirus #india #churchgatestation #railroads @thephotosociety @natgeofineart

Conflict zones and lawless areas have never been my focus, but over the years I’ve spent time in and around them. Iraq, Libya, Chechnya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Congo—I’ve seen enough to understand the human cost of even small conflicts. That’s what makes it so hard to watch a draft dodger ordering strikes from a distance, insulated from the consequences. He should LOOK DIRECTLY INTO THE EYES of the people living with his awful decisions—instead of taxpayers funding more than $100 million in golf outings—detaching even more from the suffering he creates. We are watching one man create his own personal wars—from tariffs to military action—acting without approval from Congress or the American people, igniting conflicts that harm us and ripple across the globe. A tariff war so reckless and illegal that corporations get reimbursed while we pay the costs—and get nothing. A crackdown on immigration that harms innocents while barely touching the “worst.” A steady erosion of our global standing, pushing it toward lasting damage. Iran—instability, displacement, worldwide economic shock—and the constant risk of escalation between global powers. ALL THIS BOMBING—ALL THIS LOSS OF LIFE—while DEMANDING a Nobel Peace Prize. More than 100 psychologists warned during his first term—breaking with the APA’s Goldwater Rule—that his malignant narcissism imposed a clear danger. Two more psychologists have weighed in: Dr. John Gartner describes malignant narcissism combined with psychopathy: chronic dishonesty, lack of conscience—even sadism. Dr. Bandy Lee adds that, in her clinical view, he shows a dangerous inability to process information or anticipate consequences. She suggests frontotemporal dementia may be amplifying these traits—creating what she calls an acute danger to the nation and the world. The pressure of so many challenging this narcissist—it looks increasingly like he is headed to NARCISSISTIC COLLAPSE—a serious condition where it becomes easier to burn everything down than admit he’s not what he claims to be. Photos, words @randyolson

Over 8 million protesting a cruel and corrupt administration. All 8M+ basically or outright saying f$ck Tr$mp. Just to compare crowds that said “hey Tr$mp we like you”: Largest crowd for Tr$mp rally May 2024 Wildwood New Jersey 80-100,000 2017 Tr$mp inauguration 300-600,000 Obama’s inauguration was generally considered largest on the National Mall at 1.8 Million #nokings #portland Photos, stats @randyolson

Many of us who’ve worked for National Geographic magazine know the solitude that comes with this kind of life — long stretches alone in far-off places, chasing photographs to put in your bucket. But Neil @neilshea13 and I have shared a different version of that road. From the highlands along the Omo River in Ethiopia to the edge of Lake Turkana, we’ve walked through the same villages, ridden in the same dusty cars, slept under the same hard skies. I’ve always admired his eye and his patience — how his writing carries the deliberate gaze of a documentary photographer. Earlier I posted scans from his field notebooks so you could see how he works — every page marked with sketches and fragments of the world in front of him. He draws what he sees before he writes it, as if building the scene by hand, line by line, until it’s etched into memory. Neil’s new book, Frostlines, has just been released — already a #1 Amazon pick in its category. It’s set in a colder, harsher landscape, but the same dedication runs through it — the same quiet observation, the same endurance that carried him through desert heat and across ice. Pick up a copy of Frostlines at the link in my bio.

Wind turbines and solar panels don’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Fertilizer does. Tr$mp’s “most pro-farmer ever” pitch has turned into a brutal triple whammy, handing family farms straight to billionaires. First term, his tariffs and trade war nuked $27 billion in AG exports—soybeans lost 71% to China retaliation, prices in farm counties crashing 40-50% below 2018 peaks. Second term, renewed tariffs plus labor curbs jack up costs and choke off hiring, squeezing margins to dust. Third, this fertilizer shock: Gulf nations supply 43% of seaborne urea—Hormuz closure is a spring planting catastrophe. The collapse is real. 2025 farm bankruptcies surged 46%—the highest in years. Farmers take their lives at 3.5 times the national rate. Buyers circle like vultures. Bill Gates owns ~275,000 acres across 17 states—top private farmland holder. Institutional ownership tripled from 2009-2022 ($2B to $14B). JD V$nce backed AcreTrader—slicing distressed farms for Wall Street bets. I’ve driven back roads through rural America during Tr$mp’s reign—past two-story “F—K BIDEN” flags on barns, 4×8 plywood shrines to a malignant narcissist who’s never set foot in a milking parlor or bought his own “GROW-SHER-EES.” Will they wake up? Then there is WATER—at the heart of it all: There are only six great aquifers on Earth, and the Ogallala is ours. Stretching from Dakota plains to the Texas Panhandle, it underwrites 40% of U.S. beef and 20% of our food—powering about 30% of total AG output. But mega-farms and feedlots strip-mine this ancient, non-replenishing fossil water for short-term profit, stranding smallholders and entire subdivisions with dry wells. Gulf wars, price spikes, consolidation policies bleed it dry—once drained, it’s gone for millennia. Grandkids become tenants on ancestral soil. Foreclosure notices are coming. Farmers who voted overwhelmingly for this admin need to decide: Will you still call Tr$mp “pro-farmer”—or the man who sold your land and water to billionaires? Photos,words @randyolson

Our friend Pete McBride @pedromcbride has recently written a book, Witness to Water, about his two decades of work documenting his backyard river, the Colorado, to highlight growing western water challenges. The book brings you on a source-to-sea, in-depth journey across multiple expeditions — including over a thousand miles of hiking, the last Colorado river paddle to the sea, and an intimate father-son exploration of the entire watershed, from the sky. This heartfelt story takes a personal and vulnerable look at the ups and downs behind the scenes of a story that spans seven states and two countries . He’s grateful to friends @kevinfedarkoauthor , NYT-bestselling writer of A Walk in the Park, and Dr. Len Necefer, founder of @nativesoutdoors (@lennecefer ), for their guest essays. Check it out. Info in his bio link @pedromcbride on Instagram.

I’ve been on a lot of drives through rural America during Tr$mp’s reign—past two-story-F$CK-Biden-flags hung on barns and 4×8 plywood signs on old tractors PRAISING a malignant narcissist who has never spent a moment in a milking parlor or bought “GROW-SHER-EES,” a word so far from his reality he can’t even say it. Photos, words @randyolson My father grew up on a dairy farm—it’s still in our family—and the farmers I know are smart. They can fix a combine by moonlight and hit the commodity exchanges when markets open a few hours later. So i’m confused why so many vote for Tr$mp. This week, Illinois Gov Pritzker sent Tr$mp an $8.68 billion invoice after SCOTUS ruled his tariffs unconstitutional—$1700 per family. He didn’t mince words: “Your tariff taxes wreaked havoc on farmers, enraged our allies, and sent grocery prices through the roof.” Tr$mp’s admin withheld almost all Biden‑era USDA grants—especially conservation programs—leaving farmers without promised funds. Crops rot in their fields as ICE thugs kidnap their labor force. Tr$mp’s FIRST-TERM trade war lit the fuse. Tariffs slashed U.S. farm exports by $27B. Soybean sales to China collapsed as Brazil stepped into the void. Did they vote for Tr$mp again because they wanted more of that? They got it—in his second term, Tr$mp gives beef-export-competitor Argentina $40B as a political “attaboy” while tariffs on steel, aluminum, fertilizer, and machinery drive up input costs and USA farmers pay more as their selling prices fall. And when the pain becomes unbearable? Tr$mp rolls out a new $12B “assistance” package—the same man who lit the inferno shows up with a garden hose and calls himself a hero. Tr$mp didn’t “get tough” on other countries. He F$CKED “his”own farmers, F$CKED taxpayers to bail them out, and cleared the way for foreign competitors to replace American agriculture. BUT THIS IS THE PLAN—authoritarians burn it down so we’re forced to beg for scraps—so Tr$mp has absolute control as everything burns around him. All this as those plywood altars and giant flags STILL WAVE over amber fields of grain.

🟠 We have the pleasure of highlighting the inspiring work of @randyolson 🔶 Human Testimony 
The documentary work of Randy Olson is defined by an honest and deeply human perspective, shaped over more than three decades and numerous projects for National Geographic. His images build solid visual narratives in which place, everyday life, and social issues converge with sensitivity and journalistic rigor, reaffirming photography as testimony, memory, and ethical commitment. Curator: @citlali_medal_foto 🔶 Partners: @shootlikealocal @livorno_photo_meeting @effe4.0_streetphotography @dreaminstreets @bnw.sreet.fotos @streetphotographybrazil @mystreet_women @mystreet_bnw Friends @dpsp_rainshots @street_badass @mx_streetphotofest @moodofthe_day #streetphotographers #visualstorytelling #fineart #photographyevents #vsionsofart25

For 30 years, I traveled through so‑called “third world” countries and always felt relief coming home—to what I thought was a more sane place, an actual democracy. Somewhere along the way, I realized the thing I’d been documenting “over there” was happening here. Uganda’s recent election handed yet another term to Yoweri Museveni—81 years old, in power 40 years through rigged votes, repression, and internet blackouts. He’s widely accused of looting around $4.9 billion a year while spending only $1.6 billion on healthcare—three times more spent enriching himself than on his citizens’ health and basic survival. Tr$mp is playing a similar game with different tools. Estimates put what he siphoned or funneled through his office and businesses in the billions—while he signed off on roughly $1.5 trillion in healthcare cuts, including massive blows to Medicaid and Medicare, despite the “I won’t touch Medicare” LIE. Different continent, same contempt for the people footing the bill. Bobi Wine—Museveni’s main challenger and a former pop star—has campaigned in a flak jacket because his politics are life‑threatening. Reports say he was “forcibly taken” by soldiers while votes were being counted—He escaped. At least 100 of his supporters have been killed, and crowds around him have been whipped and beaten for daring to stand too close to a different future. That’s what it looks like when a ruler treats dissent as a crime. And here? Protesters are trying to physically protect themselves from ICE agents and militarized police. When ICE is funded on the scale of foreign militaries, you’re not just “maintaining order”—you’re constructing an internal war machine. This is third‑world policy: shooting, beating, detaining citizens who disagree with you, then calling it security, stability, or “law and order.” The distance between Kampala and Washington isn’t as wide as we might like to pretend. Photos, words @randyolson #Ugandaelection2026 #ReneeNicoleGood #BobiWine #SecuringYourFuture #SevoLution

Happy New Year everyone! Photo @melissafarlow