With nine print publications, 17 international editions and more single issues than there are weeks in the year, Germany's GEO magazine brand is part throwback and part holdout. Created in 1976 by publishers of Stern, a newsweekly, as a place to print in-depth, illustrated stories, GEO has long been one of the premier photojournalism outlets in the world, and the various spinoff, GEO-branded publications carry on this tradition.

The average story length in the monthly, green-bordered flagship, GEO: Das Reportage-Magazin, hovers around 20 pages, and a short story will run six to ten pages. The GEO portfolio includes GEOWissen, a twice-yearly science magazine, GEOSpecial, a bi-monthly travel magazine, and GEOLino, the monthly children's general interest magazine—their second most popular publication after the original GEO. (See sidebar for a full list of GEO publications.)

Each GEO issue publishes a combination of assigned photography, preexisting stories and single images licensed by the editors. According to Markus Seewald, a photo editor in GEO's Hamburg offices, GEO's editorial staff also pays close attention to American and European magazines and often licenses stories that have appeared elsewhere on the condition that they have not been published yet in German.

Although GEO publications primarily focus on reportage, they also publish more artistic, subjective imagery, and are beginning to delve into portraiture to accompany their profile stories, a new addition to the magazine. Seewald says that GEO publications are also publishing an increasing number of successful "Me, myself and I" stories, which have psychological themes and lend themselves to more conceptual photography.

Seewald says that the photography staff work on each of the various GEO-branded issues like "detectives," searching out the best existing work and giving assignments to a rotating circle of photographers who have built relationships with the magazine. U.S.-based photographers who work with GEO include Jonas Bendiksen, Jonathan Torgovnik and George Steinmetz.

Long-term projects GEO has picked up and published include Brenda Ann Kenneally's "Upstate Girls," and Julie Blackmon's "Domestic Vacations," a fine-art series which accompanied an article on childhood in GEOKompakt, their quarterly "basic knowledge" magazine.

New York-based photographer Andrew Moore recently traveled to Cuba on assignment for GEOSpecial. Although he had not worked for GEO previously, Moore's large-format, fine-art and travel photography has been widely exhibited. Moore had also traveled extensively in Cuba creating his book, Inside Havana (Chronicle, 2002). Tina Ahrens, a photo editor in GEO''s New York office, hired Moore to photograph the network of people across Cuba who rent out rooms in their homes to tourists. These casas particulares (private rooms) make up for limited hotel space, especially in areas that are off the beaten path. Moore met GEO's writer in Cuba and together they sought out several of the casas particulares for the piece.

Moore shot environmental portraits, landscapes, interior details and architecture on a Linhof 4 x 5, and took photographs on a digital camera as well. He says GEO ended up running roughly 20 of his photographs, mostly the 4 x 5s, in the story. In addition to the opportunity to travel to Cuba again, Moore was given two weeks for the story, "which was generous in terms of time," Moore says. "It's an awesome magazine to work for."

Although Seewald says it can be difficult for photographers to break into the pool of contributors who regularly receive assignments from GEO editors, they are constantly looking for new people to work with. In some cases, established photographers who have never published in GEO will receive assignments (as in Moore's case), but Seewald says it is more likely that a photographer would place an existing image or body of work with one of the GEO magazines, then build their relationship from there. "We definitely want to know the photographer well before we go on to assign them," says Seewald. "Once we are convinced of his or her work we are open to buy it, and then we are open to new proposals and ideas." Photographers that have placed existing work in GEO and gone to receive assignments include Per-Anders Pettersson, Don Bartletti and Stephanie Sinclair.

Nadja Masri, GEO's bureau chief in the New York office, first met Jonas Bendiksen in 2001. She was impressed not only with his photographs but also his storytelling ability. "We need to see that a photographer is capable of making great pictures, but at the same time he or she needs to have a good sense for relevant and unique stories," Masri says. "For me that's what distinguishes a great photojournalist." Bendiksen first worked for GEO on a story on the minority Muslim community in the Ferghana Valley, which he had pitched. He has gone on to other assignments for GEO, including a recent story, "The Places We Live," documenting families and their homes in slums on three continents.


Although GEO's publications can be difficult to find in the United States, photographers interested in working with GEO will create the best opportunities for themselves by researching the various GEO magazines. Sewald says GEO's photo editors appreciate when they meet someone who knows GEO's publications and can speak about where their photography would fit. "Sometimes I think the photographer doesn't know anything about us," he says.

GEO will close its New York office at the end of 2009 in a cost-cutting measure, but they intend to stay on top of the American photography market and the work of U.S.-based photographers, who Seewald estimates receive roughly one-third of GEO's assignments. "We have to be a little bit creative," Seewald says of the change, pointing out that the magazine has worked with photographers in Asia and the Far East for years without ever opening offices there.

Seewald says the company is maintaining its "traditional, print-first mentality" despite current economic conditions, bucking the trend of heavy investment in online content. Instead they continue to focus on their hallmarks: in-depth reportage and high journalistic standards. GEO's commitment to photography remains intact as well, making them an important holdout in a struggling market for photojournalism and editorial photography.

GEO

Established 1976 Published by Gruner + Jahr AG Photographer contact: Tina Ahrens Photo Editor GEO Magazine 535 Fifth Avenue, 29th floor New York, NY 10017 ph.: 646-884-7121 GEO Magazine Am Baumwall 11 20459 Hamburg Germany 011-49-40-3703-0 www.geo.de GEO Publications: GEO (multi-themed, monthly) GEOSpecial (travel, bimonthly) GEOWissen (science, twice yearly) GEOEpoche (history, bimonthly) GEOKompakt (basic knowledge, quarterly) GEOLino (children 8-12, monthly) GEOLino extra (children 8-12, quarterly) GEOSaison (travel, monthly) GEOSaison extra (travel, twice yearly) International editions: Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey.