Chances are if you walked past a National Geographic photographer on the street, you wouldn’t know it—and that’s how they like it. As photographer and Editor at Large Michael “Nick” Nichols puts it, “I want people to remember the pictures, not my name or what I look like.” But as part of our 125th anniversary special issue this October, we wanted to turn the camera around on Nick and his fellow photographers.

The photographers of National Geographic magazine come from all walks of life. Their insights about the world are built over lifetimes devoted to documenting the lives of others. Their pictures are proof of their passion. But beyond the photographs, so many of these photographers are my heroes. They are