i just returned to new york today from two days at the annual national geographic seminar….on new years eve i was with my family in colorado…two days later i was on horseback with mexican cowboys……

three days ago i returned from the national geographic assigned cowboy story and spent two days in washington at national geographic HEADQUARTERS……sounds scary i know…but, out of this marble/glass shrine to all that the grosvenor family stands for has come some of the most interesting journalism of our time…..

you just watch….some of those stories really will stand the test of time…."average folks" already know this…..they save their national geographics in the attic….along with family heirlooms and sentimental junk….national georaphic is some kind of treasure for middle america…can you think of one single other american icon garnering  as much respect and over all of our lifetimes???

well, back to the seminar…why do i go after all these years of going and all these years saying i was not going to be going!!!!  ultimately only two reasons:  (1) to see all of my friends (2) to see all of my friends work and to show them mine …..well, ok yes there is a third reason and you know what it is…..to keep connected to all the editors who have given me so much funding over the years and given me the best education of the world that any man could ever hope to have…for this , i am forever grateful….and , also for this, i am forever trying to change the place!!!!  more on this later….

this year among the the speakers were duane michaels, joel sartore, and edward burtynsky….associate director of photography, susan smith puts all of this together…always has for the last 25 years…..more about susan later…much more!!!

this afternoon was  "show and tell" by all the photographers currently working on stories….i had to leave early today……remember, i go to thailand tomorrow on the same flight with nachtwey, mccurry , karnow , and yamashita…i showed the mexican cowboy pictures that i cannot put up on this blog…..

ok, this conversation is over…….i gotta pack……23 hours of travel tomorrow…….i will log on from bangkok and post a few pictures….another week with my friends….yes, lucky me!!!!

gerd ludwig, a national geographic photographer, and jean-francois leroy, director of photo festival visa pour l’image, hang at jodi cobb’s home after hours at the natgeo seminar