What Does a National Geographic Photo Engineer Do?
When National Geographic Magazine set out to tell the story of bioengineered “supersilk,” it created a photogenic test to prove its strength.
In its studio, National Geographic hung a 170-pound tractor tire from the ceiling, suspended by a coil of silk. The March issue features a page-and-a-half photo (pages 40 and 41) with this caption: “Supersilk’s almost miraculous ability to stretch without breaking gets put to the test in National Geographic’s photo studio by photo engineer Eric Flynn, who rigged a 170-pound tractor tire from a 0.35-ounce loop of Kraig Biocraft’s silk.” (Photo: Mark Thiessen)
Yes, the 137-year-old publication famous for photography and photographers is showcasing a behind-the-scenes tech expert.
Tech engineer Flynn explains how a photograph of him got in the magazine:
“Mark Thiessen (National Geographic staff photographer) wanted to figure out how to showcase the strength of supersilk. Part of the struggle in this case was the matter of scale. We settled on a large tire because it was the perfect weight, and it looked more impressive than a 200-pound anvil,” Flynn says.
“The issue we ran into once we got it suspended was that it didn’t look very big without any context. Up until this point I had been staying just outside of the frame and reorienting the tire in between shots. After going back and forth on other items we could include in the image, they took a few test shots where I stayed in the picture, and that ended up being the concept the photo editor liked best.”
In the first pages of the magazine’s March issue, Flynn appears in a 3×4-inch photo with staff photographers as they hoist a tractor tire for the photo shoot with a coil of supersilk.
“To show that bioengineered spider silk is as strong as its champions claim in this issue’s feature (Unlocking Nature’s Miracle) required something heavy,” the magazine explained. “National Geographic staff photographers Mark Thiessen and Rebecca Hale weighed their options. An anvil wasn’t right (too small), but soon they were rolling a 170-pound tire, borrowed from a local tire shop, into their studio.”
National Geographic’s March cover story (words by Rowan Jacobsen, photographs by Justin Jin) addresses this question: “An organic material that is five times stronger than steel? It exists in the natural world but has historically been impossible for us to manufacture. Now, thanks to breakthroughs in generic engineering, we’ve created something very close: supersilk. And it’s poised to upgrade far more than our clothing.”
Flynn describes himself as a “camera nut, always excited to talk about photographic equipment.”
For several years, he was a special-education paraprofessional in elementary school. Flynn earned a master’s degree in 2021 from Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication. He joined National Geographic in 2022 in Washington, DC, as a photo engineer technologist.
Flynn’s goal at National Geographic, he says, is to “make the jobs of our photographers easier and help them make the most compelling images possible.”
His other projects at National Geographic include:
About the author: Ken Klein lives in Silver Spring, Maryland; he is retired after a career in politics, lobbying, and media including The Associated Press and Gannett in Florida. Klein is an alumnus of Ohio University and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the Scripps College of Communication. Professionally, he has worked for Fort Myers News-Press (Gannett), The Associated Press (Tallahassee), Senator Bob Graham, and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).