Jim Richardson

A photographic journey from Kansas to the world

FAIR ISLE, SCOTLAND, UK — Jim Richardson on Fair Isle in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland.

Growing up on a Kansas farm, Jim Richardson thought photography was a great hobby. He didn’t realize it was a key to unlock the world. Through his images, Richardson will share his journey from the farm, through his high school yearbook, college newspaper, local newspapers and eventually to National Geographic magazine. Over a career that spanned half a century, he worked in over 80 countries on stories covering the environment and resources, cultures and history, sports, wildlife and world food. Come hear how photography and journalism opened the door for Kansas farm boy Jim Richardson.

Jim Richardson is a photographer for National Geographic magazine and a contributing editor for its sister publication, TRAVELER Magazine. Richardson has photographed more than 50 stories for National Geographic.

Richardson’s work has taken him around the world, from the tops of volcanic peaks to below the surface of the soil that provides our food, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and many places in between. ABC News Nightline produced a story about the long process of assembling a National Geographic story package by following Richardson in the field and at National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In addition to his color photography, Richardson has built a distinguished body of black-and-white documentary work about rural Kansas life. His audiovisual presentation, “Reflections From a Wide Spot in the Road,” has toured internationally. His 40 years of photographing life in the Kansas town of Cuba, population 230, was published in National Geographic and featured twice by CBS News Sunday Morning. His 1979 study of adolescence, “High School USA,” is now considered a photo essay classic and is used in college classrooms.

Richardson was named Kansan of the Year in 2007 by the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas. In 2015 he was honored by his fellow National Geographic photographers as their “Photographer’s Photographer.” And in 2017 Kansas State University bestowed an honorary doctorate for his work in cultural and environmental communications. He is co-founder of Eyes On Earth, an educational collaborative seeking to inspire next generation environmental photographers.

He lives in Lindsborg, Kansas, where his work is featured at his gallery, Small World, on Lindsborg’s Main Street.