{"slug":"natgeo-rumored-end-future","title":"国家地理杂志被传停刊？自然地理摄影出路在哪？","author":"Thomas看看世界","date":"2023-07-02","wechat":"https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI4NDA5MzE5NQ==&mid=2247497554&idx=1&sn=8c6fa95f492033a84f82fb09a90e93b9&chksm=eb820936dcf580204c03e6800c4563acac0f426e4d29fbccd25b12831d1ac03fd32220f65e50&scene=21#wechat_redirect","blocks":[{"t":"p","x":"《国家地理》杂志前几天被传停刊。","b":false,"xe":"A few days ago, National Geographic magazine was rumored to be ceasing publication."},{"t":"p","x":"虽然最后证明只是裁员和停止线下网点销售，但其不断在走下坡路也是不争的事实。","b":false,"xe":"Although it ultimately turned out to be only layoffs and stopping offline outlet sales, the fact that it's been on a steady decline is indisputable."},{"t":"p","x":"自然地理摄影的出路在哪？未来还有哪些发展方向？今天的视频中，Thomas会和大家分享自己的观点和看法。","b":false,"xe":"Where is the way forward for nature photography? What development directions remain? In today's video, Thomas will share his own views and opinions."},{"t":"img","f":"img-01","w":1080,"h":784},{"t":"h","x":"视频","xe":"Video"},{"t":"bili","bv":"BV1d14y1d7oN","bpic":"bili-1","bt":"国家地理杂志被传停刊？自然地理摄影出路在哪？"},{"t":"p","x":"这一篇是上面视频的完整图文整理。国家地理被传停刊的那几天，Thomas 正在西北拍摄，于是在这一期周更教程里聊了聊这场风波的来龙去脉：传闻到底传歪了哪里、百年大刊为什么走上下坡路，以及作为一名职业风景摄影师，他认为自然地理摄影未来还有哪三条出路。全片没有操作参数，是一次观点分享，下文按视频顺序落成文字，并配上关键帧截图。","xe":"This is the fully illustrated companion to the video above. In the days when National Geographic was rumored to be shutting down, Thomas was shooting in northwest China, so this weekly episode is devoted to the story behind the rumor: where the reports got it wrong, why the century-old magazine has been sliding, and — from the perspective of a working landscape photographer — which three directions nature and geography photography still have ahead. No camera settings this time; it is an opinion piece, written out below in video order with keyframe screenshots.","b":false},{"t":"p","x":"先看封面。下面这张拼图截自视频 0:40 处，从阿富汗少女到黄石专辑，都是国家地理黄金时代留给几代读者的记忆——也是本文讨论「它还能不能继续」时的情感底色。","xe":"Start with the cover: this collage, captured at 0:40 in the video, gathers the Afghan Girl and the Yellowstone issue — icons of National Geographic's golden age that generations of readers grew up with, and the emotional backdrop for the question \"can it go on?\" that this piece explores.","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v01","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"01 停刊传闻的真相","xe":"01 The Truth Behind the \"Shutdown\" Rumor"},{"t":"p","x":"新闻的起点是国家地理杂志「要停刊了」的消息（视频 0:06 处）。Thomas 仔细查证后发现这是一场误传：真实情况只是国家地理不再通过美国的报刊亭销售，订阅者依然会收到邮寄的纸质杂志；与此同时杂志进行了裁员，所有全职撰稿人未来都将转为自由撰稿人的形式合作（视频 0:14 处）。","xe":"The story began with reports that National Geographic magazine \"was ceasing publication\" (at 0:06 in the video). On closer inspection the rumor turned out to be a misreading: the magazine merely stopped selling on US newsstands, while subscribers still receive their printed copies by mail; at the same time it went through layoffs, and all of its full-time staff writers will from now on work as freelancers (at 0:14 in the video).","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v02","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"虽然没有停刊，但问题确实不少。据传在鼎盛时代，国家地理拥有超过 1200 万订阅者，如今已缩水到十分之一，只剩一百多万。随着订阅纸质杂志的读者慢慢老去，未来的订阅量只会越来越低——说不定几十年之后，这本杂志真的会停刊（视频 0:52 处）。","xe":"It is not shutting down, but its problems are real. At its peak National Geographic reportedly had over 12 million subscribers; that number has shrunk to a tenth, barely more than a million. As the readers who still subscribe to print slowly age out, circulation can only fall further — and in a few decades the magazine may truly cease to exist (at 0:52 in the video).","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v03","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"02 下坡路上的三重挑战","xe":"02 Three Headwinds Behind the Decline"},{"t":"p","x":"第一个原因是社交媒体对传统媒体的冲击（视频 1:06 处）。大家看新闻、看报道大多转到网上，纸质发行自然受挫。不过在 Thomas 看来这一条并不致命——传统媒体同样可以做线上内容，转型的大门并没有关上。","xe":"The first headwind is social media's assault on traditional media (at 1:06 in the video). People read news and features online now, and print circulation suffers accordingly. But in Thomas's view this one is not fatal — a legacy outlet can go digital too, and that door is not closed.","b":false},{"t":"p","x":"第二个原因更深层：信息越来越丰富，而地球就这么大，人类对探险活动、对自然慢慢产生了审美疲劳（视频 1:20 处）。十年之前你在西藏随手按一张照片，大家都会觉得特别新奇；如今再看一张西藏照片，只要不是特别出奇，就已经司空见惯（视频 1:37 处）。再过几年，冰岛、格陵兰恐怕也会如此——在这些地方越来越难拍出新意（视频 1:46 处）。","xe":"The second headwind runs deeper: information is more abundant than ever while the Earth stays the same size, so people are slowly growing aesthetically tired of exploration and of nature itself (at 1:20 in the video). Ten years ago a casual snapshot from Tibet felt marvelous; today an ordinary Tibet photo is commonplace unless it is truly exceptional (at 1:37 in the video). In a few years Iceland and Greenland will be the same — originality from those places is getting harder every year (at 1:46 in the video).","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v04","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"img","f":"v05","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"第三个原因最致命：短视频和 AI 绘画对自然摄影、地理摄影的冲击（视频 2:01 处）。很多地理摄影师强调用图片讲故事，但真要讲一个故事，图片大多不如视频直观、不如视频身临其境——想看新鲜的风景与人文，人们现在更愿意去刷视频。而且打开 500px、图虫这类图片社区，你会看到大量 AI 图片（视频 2:52 处）：从前摄影师精心等待、漫长跋涉才能拍到的风景大片，如今 AI 可以批量生成，鱼龙混杂，人们对这类大片的审美疲劳只会更快到来（视频 3:07 处）。这是国家地理遇到的挑战，也是所有风光摄影共同面对的挑战。","xe":"The third headwind is the deadliest: short video and AI imagery hitting nature and geography photography head-on (at 2:01 in the video). Geography photographers love to say \"tell stories with pictures\", but for storytelling a photo is rarely as immediate or as immersive as video — for fresh scenery and cultures people now scroll video feeds instead. Open photo communities like 500px or Tuchong and you will find AI images everywhere (at 2:52 in the video): landscapes that photographers once won through patient waiting and long treks can now be mass-produced by AI, and as the flood mixes real and synthetic, aesthetic fatigue with such \"epic shots\" arrives faster than ever (at 3:07 in the video). This is National Geographic's challenge — and the challenge facing all landscape photography.","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v06","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"03 方向一：视频化","xe":"03 Direction One: Going Video"},{"t":"p","x":"未来第一条出路，毫无疑问是视频化（视频 3:23 处）。人们对美景、对人文的需求还在，但越来越多的需求会以视频的形式满足：不只是美景的展示和延时，还有航拍，以及你去探索的整个过程。自然摄影、旅行摄影很大一部分乐趣恰恰在过程之中——等待的过程、跋涉的过程，而过程用视频来展现最合适不过（视频 3:38 处）。","xe":"The first way forward is, without question, video (at 3:23 in the video). The appetite for beautiful scenery and distant cultures remains, but it is increasingly satisfied in video form: not just showcasing landscapes and timelapses, but aerial work, and the whole process of exploration. Much of the joy of nature and travel photography lives in that process — the waiting, the trekking — and video is the best medium to convey it (at 3:38 in the video).","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v07","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"Thomas 也借这一章回应了私信里最常出现的问题：怎么成为职业风景摄影师、怎么成为杂志签约摄影师？他的回答很直接——杂志摄影师的时代已经过去了；如果还想做这行，就好好利用视频去经营自媒体，以自由摄影师的身份立足（视频 4:01 处）。画面从静态的照片扩展到旅途中的动态记录，正是这个转型的缩影（视频 4:18 处）。","xe":"Thomas also answers the question his inbox fills with most: how to become a professional landscape photographer, or a magazine contributor? His answer is blunt — the era of the magazine photographer is over; if you still want to do this for a living, build your own channel around video and stand on your own feet as a freelancer (at 4:01 in the video). The frame expanding from still photos to moving records of the journey is this transition in miniature (at 4:18 in the video).","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v08","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"04 方向二：个性化的呈现","xe":"04 Direction Two: A Personal Signature"},{"t":"p","x":"无论风光、自然还是野生动物摄影，未来都会越来越要求个性化的呈现（视频 4:13 处）。去刷国外的 Instagram 就会发现，能留下印象的摄影师风格都非常鲜明（视频 4:20 处）。作为一种艺术形式，你的个性化呈现极其重要。","xe":"Landscape, nature and wildlife photography alike will increasingly demand a personal signature (at 4:13 in the video). Scroll Instagram abroad and you will notice that the photographers who stick in your memory all have strongly defined styles (at 4:20 in the video). As an art form, photography rewards nothing more than that personal voice.","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v09","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"p","x":"具体来说：你要让读者看完照片后的反应，不只是「哇，冰岛真漂亮」「黄山桂林真美」，而是「Max Rive 拍的桂林怎么能这么魔幻」（视频 4:43 处）、「Thomas 拍的桂林有他自己的长焦视角」「Thomas 拍的新疆非常有特色」（视频 4:54 处）。把自己的认知、自己的主观情绪加进风景里，人们看到的就不再是一片原始的风景，而是经过你的观察、思考、阐述与呈现，重新创作出来的新的风景（视频 5:17 处）——这是 Thomas 认定的另一个重要趋势。","xe":"Concretely: the reaction you want is not just \"wow, Iceland is gorgeous\" or \"what a beautiful Guilin\", but \"how did Max Rive make Guilin look so magical?\" (at 4:43 in the video), \"Thomas's Guilin has that telephoto eye of his\", \"Thomas's Xinjiang is unmistakably his\" (at 4:54 in the video). Fold your own perception and subjective emotion into the landscape, and what people see is no longer a raw landscape but a new one, re-created through your observation, thinking, narration and presentation (at 5:17 in the video) — the second trend Thomas believes in.","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v10","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"img","f":"v11","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"h","x":"05 方向三：深度专题与小黄框精神","xe":"05 Direction Three: Deep Features and the Yellow-Border Spirit"},{"t":"p","x":"第三条出路，是传统的深度专题形式——特别是结合时代的风景摄影——它不会消失（视频 5:24 处）。短视频负责即时与广度，而沉下来的、有叙事纵深的专题报道，依然有它不可替代的价值。至于国家地理本身，Thomas 认为无论前景如何，这样一个大 IP 是可以长期运营下去的。","xe":"The third way forward is the traditional deep feature — especially landscape photography that engages with its era — and it will not disappear (at 5:24 in the video). Short video owns immediacy and breadth, but slow, narrative-rich feature storytelling keeps an irreplaceable value of its own. As for National Geographic itself, Thomas believes that whatever its prospects, a brand this large can keep operating for the long run.","b":false},{"t":"p","x":"更重要的是小黄框背后的精神：人类对未知的挑战、对自然的探索、对新事物不断的发现与认识（视频 5:56 处）。这种精神一定会永远流传在人类社会之中。随着科技发展，也许未来没有国家地理，但会有星球地理、星际地理、宇宙地理这样的新媒体出现（视频 6:16 处）——人类的探索精神，永无止境。","xe":"More important is the spirit behind the little yellow border: humanity's challenge of the unknown, its exploration of nature, its constant discovery and understanding of new things (at 5:56 in the video). That spirit will live on in human society forever. As technology advances there may be no National Geographic one day, but there will be Planet Geographic, Interstellar Geographic, Cosmic Geographic (at 6:16 in the video) — the human spirit of exploration knows no end.","b":false},{"t":"img","f":"v12","w":852,"h":480},{"t":"quote","x":"1. 停刊是误传：国家地理只是退出美国报刊亭、裁员转自由撰稿，但订阅量已从鼎盛的 1200 万缩水到约十分之一；2. 下坡的三重挑战：社交媒体冲击、对自然景观的审美疲劳、短视频与 AI 图片的分流；3. 自然地理摄影的三条出路：视频化经营自媒体、个性化的风格呈现、结合时代的深度专题；4. 小黄框代表的探索精神不会过时——未来或许是星际地理的时代。","xe":"1. The shutdown is a misreading: National Geographic only left US newsstands and turned staff writers freelance, yet circulation has fallen from a peak of 12 million to roughly a tenth; 2. Three headwinds explain the slide: social media, aesthetic fatigue with nature's icons, and the diversion of attention to short video and AI images; 3. Three ways forward for nature photography: run your own video channel, build a personal signature, and craft era-engaged deep features; 4. The exploratory spirit behind the yellow border never ages — someday it may be Interstellar Geographic's turn."},{"t":"h","x":"高清视频：","xe":"HD video:"},{"t":"p","x":"https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1d14y1d7oN/","b":false,"xe":"https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1d14y1d7oN/"},{"t":"p","x":"扫描上面二维码或点击文末“阅读原文”","b":false,"xe":"Scan the QR code above or click \"Read More\" at the end of the article"}],"titleEn":"National Geographic Magazine Rumored to Cease Publication? Where Is the Future of Nature Photography?"}