Sunday Stills: Taking Back Detroit, Returning to Everest, and More

Read: Why ISIS Hates Archaeology View in web browser. Sunday Stills ISSUE 38 Sunday, April 26, 2015 MAGAZINE Taking Back Detroit PHOTOGRAPHS BY WAYNE LAWRENCE Tough, real, and cheap, Detroit, with America’s largest municipal bankruptcy behind it, is suddenly attractive to investors, innovators, and would-be fixers, especially young adventurers. “I think the city is going to maintain its character,” says Francis Bolis, a hair salon owner who has lived in the city for over 35 years. “I think what gives the city its character [is] its people. And the people in the city are really genuinely good people.” National Geographic photographer and story contributor Wayne Lawrence agrees. “It’s a hard-knock city. Detroit is a place built on struggle. Anywhere you find places like this there is bound to be beauty and soul,” he recounts in a Proof story. “This is a human story that needed to be told.” Hear from the die-hard natives and upbeat newcomers who are reimagining Detroit, playing out their dreams, or reveling in the once neglected city’s revival. LISTEN PROOF Walking to Find the Way PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL GEORGE Michael George was just out of college and unsure of what to do next when he first walked the Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way. The route, winding through the countryside of France and Spain, has called to many thousands of people over hundreds of years—first Christians traveling to see the enshrined remains of St. James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela at the route’s end, then, increasingly, people like George who are looking for a quiet place for reflection and soul-searching. READ News Return to Everest: Rethinking Routes and Methods a Year After the Tragedy PHOTOGRAPH BY ADRIAN BALLINGER, ALPENGLOW EXPEDITIONS Let’s be honest: No one really “conquers” the world’s tallest mountain. But in the 62 years since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first humans to stand on Everest’s summit, mountaineers have experimented endlessly with training and climbing techniques and gear innovations to help them overcome the mountain’s subfreezing temperatures, hurricane-force winds, and whisper-thin air. With safety concerns dominating this year’s climbing season after last year’s tragic avalanche, veteran Himalaya guide Adrian Ballinger is further tweaking some of the conventional strategies to prepare his clients for the harsh conditions and safely bring them to the summit and back. READ PROOF When the Oysters Have Gone PHOTOGRAPH BY TYRONE TURNER “My first extended experience there was in 2004, for a story about the disappearing wetlands of Louisiana,” writes photographer Tyrone Turner about Plaquemines Parish, the earth and marsh on either side of the Mississippi River right before it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. “Over the next decade I returned to cover the aftermath of disasters befalling this fragile ecosystem: Hurricane Katrina’s devastating slice right through the middle of Plaquemines before slamming into the Mississippi Gulf Coast and, in 2010, the BP oil spill that put Plaquemines in the bull’s-eye once again. “The long-term impact of the oil and dispersants on the marshes and wildlife of the Gulf Coast is still not fully understood … Here on the east side of the Mississippi River, where this mostly black and Creole fishing community has traditionally done its fishing, the oysters have not come back in a meaningful way.” READ SHORT FILM SHOWCASE ‘Desert Goddess’ Remembers a Lost Arizona Paradise When the Glen Canyon Dam was approved in April 1956, a group of archaeologists and river runners set out to document more than 250 culturally significant sites and 125 side canyons that would be flooded by the project. One of those river runners was Katie Lee, a folk singer and Hollywood starlet turned activist. “I never dream about it,” Lee says. “It’s because it’s on my mind all day long, every day. I don't need to dream about it. I think about it all the time ... What was lost? Eden.” WATCH YOUR SHOT Everyday People PHOTOGRAPH BY Raja Subramaniyan “Many people travel around the world to photograph in exotic locations, but there are numerous opportunities to make a great photograph right in your own community,” writes photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice, guest editor for the current Your Shot assignment Daily Life. “This assignment can be as simple as an everyday moment or as complex as a nuanced image that says something about the universal human experience, the things that are common and universal across all languages and cultures, such as love, joy, sadness, or humor.” SEE HER FAVORITES Show Your Support: SHOP DONATE SUBSCRIBE TRAVEL BECOME A MEMBER You are receiving this email because ignoble.experiment@arconati.us is signed up to receive National Geographic communications. If you prefer not to receive emails from us, please unsubscribe. 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