“I want to live right in the middle of my story. I just go out and walk through the story… and respond to what I see at that moment.” —William Albert Allard

William Albert Allard claims he isn’t your typical National Geographic photographer. He avoids dangerous situations and diseases and is largely a photographer of people. Allard fell in love with photography early in his life, and started his career as a National Geographic intern in 1964. He has used color photography to explore topics from the American West to the banks of the Seine river in Paris, and has done more than 40 stories for the magazine. Allard relies on having time to explore a story, as well as serendipity to catch