To celebrate International Women’s Day (Thursday, March 8), National Geographic is welcoming its first guest editor for the @NatGeo Instagram account: actor, activist and UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson. Working alongside National Geographic’s editorial team, Emma will curate the account and highlight the work of eight female Nat Geo photographers from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Australia, the U.S. and the Philippines throughout the day starting at 8 a.m. EST. Their photos cover a wide range of important topics relevant to women around the world today.
“Women photographers are often under-represented and under-celebrated,” Emma said. “I’m thrilled to mark this day by profiling the talented female storytellers and image-makers that are working hard to build empathy across borders.”
The eight photographers Emma will feature on @NatGeo on Instagram cover topics like male guardianship and the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia; the effects of displacement on women and girls running from Boko Haram in Nigeria; unequal pay for women day laborers in India’s brick industry; the hope for a better tomorrow for young girls; and more.
“We are honored to be partnering with Emma to recognize the contributions of these eight incredible women photographers, who are shedding light on important stories that make a difference in people’s lives,” said Susan Goldberg, Editorial Director of National Geographic Partners and Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic magazine. “We are eager to use our storytelling platforms and our power as a global media brand to highlight women by calling attention to their work, their stories and their causes.”
The @NatGeo Instagram account is the most followed brand on the platform and one of the top 15 most followed accounts overall. Emma (@EmmaWatson) and @NatGeo have a combined total of 129 million followers. Their collaboration to mark International Women’s Day will be amplified via Facebook Stories on the National Geographic magazine Facebook page, which reaches an additional 22 million followers.
National Geographic will publish articles related to International Women’s Day across NationalGeographic.com and other Nat Geo Instagram accounts, featuring photos of and taken by inspiring women, including 2018 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Hilaree Nelson O’Neil on @NatGeoAdventure and Dr. Jane Goodall on @NatGeoWILD.
National Geographic will also begin the global broadcast premiere for the acclaimed BAFTA-nominated documentary “JANE” in the U.S. starting Monday, March 12, at 8/7c. The film about Dr. Jane Goodall, directed by Brett Morgen and featuring an original score from legendary composer Philip Glass, has won Best Documentary Awards from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, Producers Guild of America, Writer’s Guild of America, The American Cinema Editors Guild and the Motion Pictures Sound Editors Guild, as well as The Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.
Learn more about how National Geographic is celebrating International Women’s Day this year.
*Photo and words by @newshatavakolian (Newsha Tavakolian): In 2017, I met Fatima at the Muna camp in north-eastern Nigeria. She was this fragile girl, who did not even have the chance to talk, as her brother was quick to jump in and answer my questions. I could see a certain heaviness in her eyes. Displaced by the Boko Haram, 9-year-old Fatima and her family had been living in makeshift huts in Maiduguri for 18 months. They struggled for their most basic needs, crawling into windowless huts to sleep at night. It was so hot outside that I could not breathe well as I walked through the camp area. Men, women, and children sat outside with blank gazes in their eyes, staring into the horizon, waiting for a miracle.
