Homecoming Scotland 2009

Jim Richardson in Scotland

For more than a decade, acclaimed photographer Jim Richardson has worked to perfect a picture of the Scottish soul for the National Geographic Society.

Since his first trip to Scotland in the mid 1990s, Richardson has returned almost every year to photograph a new aspect of the Scottish character and landscape. "From the craggy northern isles of the Outer Hebridies to the lush Borders region in the south, Scotland never disappoints me," Richardson said.

Richardson's body of work on Scotland was seeded in his first story "Scotland: Plaid to the Bone" for the September 1996 issue of National Geographic magazine. He followed several years later for the magazine with a landscape feature on the Orkney Islands. For National Geographic Traveler, Richardson has photographed Scotland's world of single malt whiskies as well as Edinburgh's annual festival and fringe. He also has led photo workshops and accompanied general interest travel groups in Scotland on behalf of National Geographic Expeditions.

For the 2009 national lecture series sponsored by National Geographic LIVE!, Richardson will deliver presentations titled "Celtic Heart, Celtic Soul." And yet to be scheduled are upcoming whisky tastings with acclaimed whisky writer Dave Broom.

Richardson's more than 40 stories overall for National Geographic magazine and Traveler stand alongside his lifetime of black-and-white documentary photographs of small-town life in his native Kansas. His work has been featured twice on CBS News Sunday Morning and on ABC News Nightline. He is a Nikon "Legend Behind the Lens" as well as a winner of the Crystal AMI international award for his video presentation, "Reflections from a Wide Spot in the Road."