From the Frontlines to the Shorelines

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

National Geographic photographer David Guttenfelder is no stranger to dangerous situations. After graduating from college, he left his life in rural Iowa to cover the 1994 Rwandan genocide, an experience that kicked off a decades-long career of reporting on war, conflict, and major news events all around the world. But when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down travel to most countries, he took an assignment close to his roots—paddling the treacherously unpredictable waters between the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior. He describes what it was like visiting historic lighthouses and sea caves, and shares some surprising lessons he took away from that experience. For more information on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard. Want more? For more on the Apostle Islands and their history, read writer Stephanie Pearson’s piece and see the stunning images David Guttenfelder captured while kayaking out there. Guttenfelder is also one of the few Westerners who has spent an extensive amount of time in North Korea. The photos he took there show a side of the country people rarely get to see. Also explore: He’s also been covering the war in Ukraine. You can check out some of his photographs from the front lines in this story for The New Yorker. You can follow David Guttenfelder on Instagram @dguttenfelder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Now for the Marine Forecast for Waters with 55 nautical miles of shore on the western lake
0:09.6	superior from Port Wing to Bayfield to Saxon, Harbour, Wisconsin and the outer Apocalypse.
0:15.1	It's summer 2021.
0:17.3	At the time of this radio broadcast, National Geographic photographer David Gutenfeldr
0:22.1	is hungered down in a lighthouse on Devil's Island in Lake Superior.
0:26.3	I think we spent three days on Devil's Island living in a lighthouse while eight foot waves
0:36.8	crashed against the shore.
0:39.9	Devil's Island is part of the Apostle Island's National Lakeshore and David was on an ambitious
0:45.0	journey to paddle to as many of the islands as possible in 18 days.
0:50.1	But Lake Superior is notorious for its rough waters and harsh, unstable weather.
0:55.6	It was definitely a sizing up of my kayak skills.
1:01.8	And on top of trying to stay afloat, he was also trying to capture photos.
1:07.9	David recalls at one point leaving the lighthouse to check out some sea caves, but that turned out to be an adventure in itself.
1:14.9	Suddenly, the storm just came over the horizon and one of our group members said we'd got to get out of here.
1:25.8	We turned and paddled as hard as we could back to the island where we had come from and made it just to the shoreline when the light had started hitting all around us in the lake.
1:40.8	My kayaking partner went and took shelter and I tried to make pictures.
1:46.8	Classic photographer, stand out in the middle of the storm.
1:51.8	Yeah, I flipped over my boat and tried to photograph this and I watched lightning hitting in front of me and then directly overhead, clearly hitting the island.
2:05.8	You know, it was just one of the reminders while we were out there of how the lake is the boss and how it was in charge.
2:15.8	I'm Peter Gwyn, Editor at Large at National Geographic Magazine and you're listening to Overheard, a show where we eavesdrop on the wild conversations we have here at Net Geo and follow them to the edges of our big, weird, beautiful world.
2:29.8	This week, we talked to National Geographic Explorer David Gutenfeld.
2:33.8	He describes leaving his first job as a photographer at a small newspaper in Iowa to cover the Rwandan genocide and how that decision led him to photograph stories
	...

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