Photography

Photographer Michael Turek shares the story behind his images capturing the dusty northern reaches of Argentina.

Most of us spend our days firmly rooted on terra firma, which means seeing the world from a bird's-eye view is extra special (yet another reason to snag that window seat). Here, take in the aerial views of sand dunes in Namibia, beaches in Croatia, crashing waves on the Danish coast, and much, much more—all without leaving your chair.

Like the Empire State Building in New York City or Big Ben in London, seeing the Eiffel Tower in Paris is, for most visitors, a requirement. Whether sparkling at night or caught in fog on a cloudy day, the beauty of its silhouette can't be denied. But seeing doesn't have to mean visiting—or climbing, for that matter. In fact, for some, a surprise sighting can be the most exhilarating—even if it's just partial. Maybe all you need is to capture its top as it comes into view on rue Caulaincourt in Montmartre; or while touring the graves of the many late greats in Père-Lachaise cemetery, one of the city's highest points. We asked three Paris-based photographers to share their favorite spots for capturing the Tower in all its unobstructed magnificence.

When San Francisco-based photographer Alessandra Sanguinetti set off on a months-long trip through France last year, she left without an agenda. “The whole point of it [was] to go into the unknown and learn something; to explore; to ask more questions,” she told Condé Nast Traveler. “Every day was a new discovery.” She went by car, by bus, by train, on an artist’s residency funded by the esteemed Aperture Foundation and Hermès, eschewing the “glamour and romance” associated with places like Paris. The France she discovered was one that travelers might not always see—get an up-close look in this preview, and at New York City’s Aperture Gallery, now through June 29.

We spoke with four of the world’s top travel photographers about how to get a gorgeous shot every time—from the best ways to shift your perspective (both literally and figuratively) to how to make your sunset Instagram look better than everyone else's.

The stark contrast in landscapes and experiences in Namibia is unequaled. In just two weeks, I visited the tallest sand dunes in the world, watched in awe as the Milky Way canvased the desert sky, drove through sweeping canyons, visited charming coastal fishing towns, explored Etosha National Park, and saw more wildlife than I could have imagined. Namibia is an adventure traveler's dream.

Regular *Traveler * contributors Andrea Gentl and Martin Hyers led an intensive photography workshop in the Peruvian Andes last spring, marking a new wave of creative entrepreneurs—in the design, food, and maker worlds—who are leveraging Instagram to launch real-life skill immersions in distant places. How the couple landed on the remote Andes as the location for their inaugural workshop can also be traced to the social media platform, where Gentl first encountered Hannah Rae Porst and her arresting images of the Q’eros Nation, the roughly 2,000 Incas living in the isolated, high-altitude Andes. “The Q’eros people are known as the wisdom-keepers of the Andes,” Porst says. Here, Gentl & Hyers follow the Q’eros traditions of farming, herding, music, and spirituality.

The top Travel Photographer of the Year has been announced, and the twelve winners—some as young as 13—traveled around the world to capture these stunning photos. From a fox in New Jersey to nuns in China's Sichuan Province, on professional cameras and even smartphones, the winners captured some absolutely stunning photos of our world. Which is your favorite?

Paris is beautiful no matter when you go. But there's something particularly thrilling about being there in the fall, including annual traditions involving red wine and chocolate, a street party where it's required to stay up all night, and special catch-them-now-or-you'll-miss-them events like a Magritte retrospective and the Pitchfork Festival.

When we imagine it, as we so often do, we picture it in the crystalline light of summer: fresco-blue sky, tide gently lapping beneath our terrace, sun glinting off an Aperol spritz. But when February cover photographer Pari Dukovic arrived in Venice to shoot this portfolio, his lens found a very different place.