Tiny Atlas Quarterly
Meet Emily Nathan, a veteran travel and lifestyle photographer and the founder of Tiny Atlas Quarterly, an online and in person magazine, social gathering, and community for travel photographers and enthusiasts. Founded a decade ago, Tiny Atlas Quarterly has become a hub for innovation, education, and a safe place to converse within the travel photography industry. In our 18th edition of Cultivating Conversations, we speak with Emily about the travel landscape, sustaining a community through COVID-19 and the many changes to travel patterns, and what the future holds for travel as global warming and climate change dominate the conversation.
I started Tiny Atlas Quarterly in 2012 to offer the photographer’s experience–the intimate moments and everyday extraordinary experiences of travel–something I felt was missing from my work as a professional photographer shooting lifestyle and travel images for commercial and editorial clients.
The Tiny Atlas Instagram account and #mytinyatlas hashtag is now known for incredible imagery from some of the best travel photographers in the world with personal narratives and travel tips that educate, inspire, and advocate for social and environmental awareness.
HOW DID THE IDEA FOR TINY ATLAS QUARTERLY GERMINATE?
“I wanted to create an online magazine filled with the photography I loved and the photographer’s vision of each place.”
I wanted more people in travel magazine images and I wanted to show the natural moodiness of places rather than just the sunny days.
DO YOU SEE TINY ATLAS QUARTERLY AS A HOME FOR SEASONED PHOTOGRAPHERS OR CAN NOVICES FIND VALUE AS WELL?
The end product is absolutely for both. The digital magazine has always been a showcase of the work of professional photographers while the instagram became the showplace for everyone (and the true home of our community).
One of the beautiful aspects of the Instagram platform is how it offers anyone with access to a camera and the internet a place to share their images and stories. Our Instagram is ideally for anyone. Our account daily receives DM’s from people whose feeds aren’t professionally shot per se, but they have captured something they think is fantastic and delightful in their daily life or travels and they want to share it with us.
Experienced photographers do have knowledge and skills to share. I recently wrote a short guided journal My Tiny Atlas; A Guided Travel Journal with Photography Tips, that is filled with tools for novices to learn more about the skills and intricacies that form the foundation of travel photography. It’s a great resource starter guide for travel photography and even for planning an adventure that’s focused on photography, whether that adventure is around the world or in your own backyard.
WAS SOCIAL MEDIA ALWAYS AN INTEGRAL PIECE OF TINY ATLAS QUARTERLY OR DID THE COMMUNITY ORGANICALLY GROW OVER TIME?
From the point of our first Kickstarter on, social media has been integral to Tiny Atlas Quarterly. Kickstarter and the hashtag #mytinyatlas, which I started for that campaign, transformed what was then a personal blog and professional photographer group effort into a much broader audience and social media community.
“#MYTINYATLAS HAS OVER
9 million posts.”
Once I initiated that tag, a new and dynamic audience began to grow. People flooded onto the #mytinyatlas feed wanting their photos to be part of this new community.
AS A PHOTOGRAPHER YOURSELF, IS THERE A STRUGGLE TO BALANCE YOUR OWN WORK VS THE WORK OF YOUR COMMUNITY?
“Tiny Atlas consumed my photography career.”
Brands who I might have previously worked for as a hired pro photographer were instead now collaborating with the Tiny Atlas community and magazine to create sets of images for projects that I (or photographers within the Tiny Atlas network) would create.
WHAT CAMERA EQUIPMENT DO YOU LIKE TO SHOOT WITH?
I shoot a lot with my phone actually, especially when traveling and posting images to Instagram Stories. I have the iPhone 13 Pro and upgrade every year or two (I highly recommend buying an upgrade plan if you rely on your phone to shoot). I also love shooting in the water and have a waterproof housing. I use Aquatech’s phone housing, Axisgo, with a bluetooth enabled grip and dome attachement.
“When I’m traveling for work, a Canon DSLR with prime lenses, most often the 50mm 1.2 and the 35mm 1.4 are my go to.”
I rarely use long lenses even if I should because they are a pain to lug around. I do like the Hasselblad X1D medium format because the quality is so high and it is small comparatively and lightweight, but it is pretty slow for a lifestyle photographer like myself. I like the canon mirrorless R5, but it is not that much smaller than my 5D and 6D’s.
Photo Credit: Anita Brechbuhl
Reprinted from COASTLINES: AT THE WATER’S EDGE by Emily Nathan. Copyright © 2022 by Emily Nathan.
Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO BUDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS?
“Take photos and look at photography with an eye towards your inner critic. What images of yours do you like? Why?”
Same for paintings, illustrations or movies. When you can identify your approach or style (or ones you love) you can continue with it or modify it to your liking. The more you shoot, the sooner you’ll begin to see if you are making images that appeal to you. There are tons of tutorials on Youtube and Tiktok for self taught creatives. There are many communities where photographers share and support each other as well.
Local professional organizations like APA which is old school but good. There is a lot going on with NFT photography on Twitter, on Twitter Spaces, in Discord and IRL events. I recommend checking out Obscura and Foundation. Instagram has endless photography and feeds to follow and connect with. There are many new professional communities as well. Black Women Photographers started by Polly Irungu is excellent. The Luupe and Kintzing facilitate professional collaborations with women and non-binary photographers and emerging photographers respectfully around the world.
WHEN DID YOU LAUNCH TINY ATLAS TRIP?
“Trips started with a partnership with Allswell Creative’s notebooks in Tahiti and British Columbia in 2016 and have continued ever since.”
The trip was organized for people who love travel and photography and sought a taste of adventure the Tiny Atlas way. The people who came with us were blown away by the lush, wild beauty. Many professional mid-career and emerging photographers use our trips as a pre-organized test shoot for creating new portfolio work. We have gone to Lummi Island in the San Juans, to Patagonia, to Cuba and more. Next up is in Baja on the Sea of Crotez. The trips are totally open to anyone though and we have had lots of nurses, doctors, writers and more.
THE PANDEMIC CHANGED TRAVEL IN A HUGE WAY. HOW DID THOSE CHANGES REFLECT ON TINY ATLAS QUARTERLY?
“Travelers are going to travel.”
People who couldn’t stay put found a way to just live elsewhere or on the road and isolated from others safely. Once COVID restrictions were lifted enough for borders to re-open, we noticed international travel picked right back up. That said, many American domestic travelers are still moving cautiously by plane here in the USA. A renewed interest in road trips emerged as well as a significant trend of people choosing not to renew leases on apartments and commercial office properties, opting instead to work remotely.
Left Photo via @_gabrielflores & Right Photo via @silkymerman
Shot on a Tiny Atlas Quarterly project with Regenerative Travel and Adobe Lightroom at Playa Viva
TRAVEL HAS A STRONG CARBON FOOTPRINT. HOW DOES TINY ATLAS QUARTERLY ADDRESS THESE GLOBAL ISSUES?
Slow travel (staying at your destination long enough to learn about the local communities and culture) and road trips were always a good idea and have become even more so. I love the luxury approach to cultural and slow travel from Prior. Personal accountability and offsetting with companies like Chooose or Treesisters is also an important measure to consider.
Tiny Atlas has always valued personal travel stories. We were never a bucket-list focused travel community. We feature perspectives that notice and appreciate beauty everywhere. In our books as well as the #mytinyatlas Instagram feed, we love when we can share images from around the world created by the locals who live in those communities as well as travelers from abroad. That said, many Tiny Atlas images are from California; our home is based here, and many of the images are from our communities.
From the outset of planning Coastlines: At the Water’s Edge, we felt we needed to bring awareness to the effects of climate change on oceans and coastlines around the world.
“Tiny Atlas is committed to using our voice to raise awareness of social and ecological concerns.”
Our community feels empowered to make choices that lead to positive change.
Left Photo via @_gabrielflores & Right Photo via @dantom
YOU PUBLISHED YOUR FIRST BOOK IN 2019. WHAT WAS THE CREATIVE PROCESS LIKE?
Now that feels like a while ago! My new book, Coastlines, is out this May so that book’s process is fresher in my mind but the process is similar. (Although if and when I do another book, I think I’ll approach it in a different way.)
“These first two books were very much about organizing a gorgeous and inspiring, wanderlust loving set of images around a theme for viewers and readers to dive into and escape.”
We pulled together sets of pictures from our community of professional and non-professional photographers. I begin by looking through our Instagram feed as well as reaching out to photographers whose work I feel would be a good fit. In addition, for both books, we feature work from the editorial and content trips and partnerships we’ve worked on over the years.
For these two books, we started with an idea and a broader set of images to help define the content of the text and storyline. Once we developed and completed the text, we then reviewed the broad set of images and refined the image selects and handed them over to the design team for a first edit. The design concept starts as early as the book proposal and we work in tandem with our publisher and their design team throughout the process. It’s a-multi-year-long process of polishing the ideas, writing and editing, designing and refining. You can find the books here.
Photos via @ernathan
AS TRAVEL CONTINUES TO CHANGE AND EVOLVE WHAT TRENDS DO YOU SEE EMERGING IN OUR NEW NORMAL LANDSCAPE?
Longer trips and ideas like adult study abroad by brands like Sojrn are gaining traction. Another emerging new normal is…
“living and working remotely for extended periods of time.”
Bleisure travel, where business travel is about experiences that engage teams on a personal level as well as providing time to work together will be big. Check the Saleforce Ranch as an example. A new and promising cultural shift illustrates how companies are beginning to move away from the mindset that values workplaces stocked with candy and entertainment to entice their employees to stay onsite 24/7, and are instead shifting to a more holistic understanding of creative and intellectual development through offsite connection and activities.
People are looking for ways to engage with their passionate interests in workshops and small groups around the world. Thread Caravan, Ace Camps, and Wild Terrains are all great examples and also feature women founders and women led groups. There is also an important shift to regenerative and eco-conscious travel, with Regenerative Travel really pushing this narrative and leading this trend. Now more than ever people want to be sure that the hotels and resorts they chose to stay at are actively giving back to the land, people, and communities where they are based. At the same time, social distancing does not appear to be ending anytime soon, so being outside will remain a focal point in travel plans. What’s wonderful is that people are truly appreciating being outside and in nature.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR TINY ATLAS QUARTERLY?
Our new book Coastlines and our next trip to Baja in partnership with Conserva Collective are happening almost concurrently in May. I’m always in conversations with people I admire and who inspire me. The world is in a period of flux. Travelers are trying to return to “normal” life and yet the world is entirely transformed. It feels as though we’re just now beginning to take in the massive changes the world is facing with climate change and renewed socio-political instability. So we’re watching and participating in raising awareness where we have the power to do so. We’re also still celebrating the beauty and delight that comes through travel, both in our own neighborhoods and from our community around the world as they move through this updated reality.
