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Annie Griffiths Belt: A Nomadic Family Life
By Lynne Eodice | Aug 1, 2008
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 CLICK HERE TO VIEW A GALLERY OF ANNIE'S IMAGES
All images by Annie Griffiths Belt, except where otherwise noted
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| Annie Griffiths Belt © Linda Johansson |
Annie
Griffiths Belt was one of the first female photographers to work for
the National Geographic Society, and she develops a rapport with her
subjects to capture wonderful images. Her family life and photographic
journeys throughout her 30-year career have been documented in her new
book, A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel.
Annie’s
images have appeared in numerous other publications as well, and she
has won awards from The National Press Photographers’ Association, the
Associated Press, the National Organization of Women, and the White
House New Photographers’ Association. She donates time to several aid
organizations and does a lot of speaking engagements, especially for
women’s groups. When she’s not traveling, she resides with her husband
and two children in Virginia.
Originally
Annie studied journalism at the University of Minnesota. “I had always
wanted to be a writer,” she says. Then in her junior year, she took a
photography class to learn how to use a camera she had recently
purchased—“and two weeks later, I changed my major. I fell absolutely
in love with it.” The university had a small but nice photojournalism
program, she recalls.
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| Jordan: Bedouin Man Atop Al Deir, the Monastery in Petra |
Prior to graduating from college,
she got a job with a regional daily newspaper in southern Minnesota.
“My career has been so blessed,” she declares. “I had opportunity long
before I had experience.” While she was there, the Director of
Photography at National Geographic
called the paper and asked if someone could shoot images of an event
that occurred in her area. Annie had the good fortune to answer the
phone. “He said, ‘there’s a bad hailstorm; can you get us a picture?’”
She didn’t hesitate, and Geographic used
one of her images. “That gave me the confidence to go to them with my
portfolio and a story idea—and darned if they didn’t hire me,” she
relates. In those days, there were very few women photographers, and
Annie says that she believes that Bob Gilka, the Director of
Photography at Geographic, was committed to diversifying his staff. “He really mentored me.”
The Family Who Travels Together Stays Together
About 10 years into her work with Geographic,
she met Don Belt, a writer for one of the stories to which she was
assigned. They got married and had two children, Lily and Charlie, and
in order to maintain a stable family, they decided to adapt a traveling
lifestyle. Don is a writer and editor who often works on his own
assignments, although sometimes the couple has worked on the same
projects for Geographic. “But
the kids always came with me when I went on any assignment over two
weeks,” Annie says. “So we would often go for a few months at a time.”
In fact, she says that the reason she did her new book “is to encourage
women especially—but people in general—to
find balance in their lives. I figure if I could do it with my crazy
job, then anybody can find a way to follow their dreams and not have to
choose between having a career and having a life.”
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| Pakistan: Child Peers From Between Her Sisters' Robes (Also the Cover of "A Camera, Two Kids and A Camel" |
Annie’s book, A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel: My Journey in Photographs
(National Geographic Press), is a photographic memoir that outlines her
career from the early years, and explains how she has been able to
juggle her marriage, children, and traveling with her family while on
assignment with Geographic. She discusses lessons she’s learned from
men and women around the globe, and the joy and heartaches of life on
the road, all illustrated with her beautiful images captured in over
100 countries. It is not only a great collection of her photographs,
but also an insightful autobiography. Annie shows that she is a great
writer as well as a photojournalist.
Annie is a popular
speaker, and very often, she says, “there will be a young woman who
raises her hand and says, ‘but can you really have a family and a
career?’ This was a great impetus for me to do the book—it’s all about
‘yes, you can!’” She was one of the first female photographers at
Geographic, and the first woman to have her family take part in her
travels while on assignment. One male photographer took his wife and
son on every assignment, she recalls, as it was very important for
their family to be together. “A couple of the guys there took their
kids on assignment a lot, and they were wonderfully supportive of what
I was doing.”
A Shared Dream in Many Languages
During her 30-year career with Geographic,
Annie has done a large body of work in the Middle East. “As a family,
it was one of the favorite chapters of our life,” she says, “because
over the period of five years, we were in the Middle East a great deal
of time, doing stories on Lawrence of Arabia, Galilee, Petra, and
Jerusalem.” She adds that these are some of her fondest memories. “We
had the opportunity to get very close to the Arab people. I found it to
be one of the most welcoming, family and community-oriented cultures on
earth. There are bad guys in every culture, of course,” she states,
“but in all cultures, the great majority of people just want to have a
peaceful, safe life of dignity.” Working there was very important to
her entire family, Annie says.
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| Zambia: Swimming Hole at the Top of Victoria Falls |
Giving Back
She
enjoys a great variety in her work these days. She recently completed a
commercial shoot in Spain, and has just returned from Australia on
assignment for Geographic. “I’m working on a very dynamic children’s program down there,” Annie explains. She’s also recently done a book tour, as A Camera, Two Kids & A Camel
was published in Spring 2008. She devotes a portion of each year to
producing fundraising images for aid organizations, including Church
World Service and Habitat for Humanity. “I give a chunk of my time to
these aid organizations,” she says, “and the pictures are used to raise
money.” Her speaking engagements are often geared to women’s groups.
“One day, I might be speaking to a group of women at Merrill Lynch,
then perhaps a group at Proctor and Gamble,” she notes. “I try to
spread a message of communication, global awareness, and the wonderful
roles and opportunities available to women.”
Her
commercial assignments “are all over the place,” she says. Clients
include Star Alliance, Nikon, and UBS. Her images have appeared in LIFE, Geo, Smithsonian, Paris Match, Fortune, American Photo, Stern and many other publications. Book projects include the A Day in the Life series, The Power to Heal, Women in the Material World, and One Digital Day.
“What’s nice is that my commercial work enables me to give my time to
aid and environmental issues,” she points out. “I’m at an age where
it’s important to me that my work is very useful. I really see that
I’ve been blessed, and I have an opportunity to give back now.” She
says that she’s received so much in the way of support and opportunity.
Annie also works with a children’s magazine, schools, and education.
With a grant from Geographic several years ago, Annie and author, Barbara Kingsolver, created a book entitled Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands.
“We did it to raise awareness of environmental issues and wilderness
preservation,” she says. The book, which Annie describes as “a labor of
love,” became a launching pad for lectures and a traveling exhibit.
Proceeds from this book have raised over a quarter million dollars for
land conservation grants. As for upcoming projects, she says that A Camera, Two Kids and a Camel
has consumed much of her time for this year. She’s also a fellow with
the International League of Conservation Photographers, and plans to
work with them in the future.
An Approachable Soul
Annie
has always used Nikon cameras and currently shoots with the D300 and a
variety of Nikkor lenses, depending on the situation. Her philosophy is
to travel light. She uses just one camera most of the time, and carries
a backpack instead of a camera bag. “When I’m working, I like to look
like someone’s mother, rather than a photographer,” she laughs. “I try
not to look conspicuous at all, and I don’t want to be intimidating.”
See more of Annie Griffiths Belt’s work at www.anniegriffithsbelt.com
CLICK HERE TO SEE A NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SLIDESHOW OF ANNIE'S IMAGES
CLICK HERE TO VIEW A GALLERY OF ANNIE'S IMAGES
Let us know if you found this article useful, and tell us what kinds of articles you'd like to see in upcoming issues. Send your comments and ideas to Lynne Eodice.
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© Copyright 2008 by PHOTOWORKSHOP.COM
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Last Updated: Nov 18th, 2008 - 13:25:22
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