William Albert's Open Road

WILLIAM ALBERT ALLARD

Staff Photographer
National Geographic

“It makes me realize that it's possible to set out with a goal, and it's possible to reach that goal...but you cannot be indifferent.”

After graduating from high school, he didn't have the grades to go to college, so he didn't.
Instead, he got a job with the telephone company; one day, his sister told him, "There's more to life than climbing poles," so he enrolled in art school.
One day, an enthusiastic professor led a photojournalism class on the marriage of words and pictures.
He became obsessed with photojournalism and decided to tack it on as a double major.
Because he was older than other students-he already had a wife and kids-his portfolio was a bit more serious than others.
The director of photography at National Geographic gave him an internship and a chance at a story.
He says that he was very well set up for this assignment, psychologically, and as a result, his photos of the Pennsylvania Amish were published.
That spread was considered a major turning point in the style of the magazine, and it jump-started his photography career.