we're in los angeles for this amazing
project called assignment inspiration
national geographic and mazda made a
call out for photographers most
inspiring work
congratulations out of thousands of
entries it was your work that inspired
us
one of you will be selected to go on
assignment with national geographic
travel
i think i'm starting to get a little
nervous because i'm like oh my gosh this
is national geographic
i've been reading national geographic
magazines since i was a little kid
being confirmed as a finalist nothing
like this has ever happened to me before
in my life national geographic is known
around the world for us iconic
photography
now we're asking you to inspire us with
images you take over the next three days
and we're providing each of you with a
mazda cx-30 to inspire you
out on the road get those quests
assignment inspiration is about
understanding the world around you and
capturing that as a photographer and
having it resonate and inspire people
for this assignment you will be judged
on your ability to photograph images
that convey three different ideas
these quests were really inspired from
my trip to hiroshima
i was able to take away what amounted to
some really life-changing concepts
these are big ideas and they came from
simple interactions that i had with the
people in the natural environment
i met craftsmen who embodied the
japanese tradition of takumi
takumi means in japanese a master
craftsman but it
is so much more than that it's not just
a job
it's a passion it's a total dedication
to a single skill
[Music]
just like the takumi in japan that helps
shape and design our cars
it's not something that can be trained
in weeks months years
it's decades in the making it's really
about
pouring all of your own life experience
and emotion into your work so that when
people who you share your work with see
it
they really can feel what you felt
you guys ready all right good luck
[Music]
these quests are not easy we're looking
for our five images from each quest
they can only choose one location per
quest they only have three hours in each
location
they have no idea what they're gonna
find until they get there and on top of
that
they have camera crews all around them
all the time
hi i'm beth hi how's it going i'm kazuki
nice to meet you today i am shooting a
glass artist
i was trying to think creatively what
would look really cool for light
i love that they use fire and you know
there's a lot of motions because they
spin and so i want to be able to play
with motion
i think this is really cool i'm
fascinated is this too close for this
no you're good as long as you're not
feeling the heat i think what i'm most
interested in exploring is the process
i definitely feel the spirit of takumi
here the goal here is to stretch it
across the studio
i think he's putting his soul into his
art so that people can see that
it shines through we're looking for our
three photographers to capture images
that of course have incredible
composition
and beautiful color but there's a second
layer to any image
and the real root of that is inspiration
we're trying to capture not just
technical mastery but spirit and soul
today we're at jetson studios home of
some really cool
stained glass craftsman one thing that's
really cool about this place is it's
been around for generations so they've
really had time to perfect their work
hey sam tippits dave johnson good to see
you nice to meet you thanks for coming
you all been around since the 57 1890s
the company was started by my great
great grandfather what i've seen is that
each generation has its own kind of mark
on the process
the reason i really chose this place was
other people that work here
but i knew that this studio was kind of
like renowned i knew that everyone
working here
had to be really dedicated i'm really
interested in capturing their passions
[Music]
a big part of i think what's going to
show in my photography there are certain
traditions that
uphold and it kind of connects to our
ancestors
[Music]
and how long have you been working with
stained glass
35 years longer than i've been alive
we are at el matador state beach i'm
going to be meeting
ashley polsky a miniature landscape
artist
oh my goodness i feel like i'm like
nervous tonight you're like a celebrity
to me so i've been following
ashley polsky on instagram for a while
putting her artwork inside of a mint tim
you see
not only the landscape but the palette
that she used
and it's really cool to have both the
destination
and the journey i feel very connected to
you because of your
connection with medicine she is a
medical student
i am a medical doctor physician there's
the
similarity between us i can understand
the need to find something outside of
medicine that can
re-energize you ground you balance you
she is very thoughtful methodical each
brush stroke
i'm seeing her essence like i feel like
i'm witnessing a master at work
[Music]
takumi in the case of photography it's
not only about the technical mastery of
photography it's about connecting with
the person that's in the photograph
so that when you share it and people see
it they'll feel everything that you felt
in the moment when you made that
photograph
i like it how long have you been doing
it i've been blowing glass for about 14
years
i made a point of looking to find
somebody that had a message behind their
art
that's really important to me i was
diagnosed with bipolar disorder
and that's kind of makes me who i am and
feeds into
my creativity i've struggled with mental
health since i can remember
i was 13 when i was diagnosed with
clinical depression i love that he's you
know trying to bring awareness to it
it's really cool in the dark
yeah photography is my therapy it
definitely keeps me balanced
it's my time where i can just kind of
clear my head and still be artistic
in darkness there is beauty and i think
you're able to put that into your work
this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity for these photographers
this is a moment they have to embrace
and my hope is that these challenges
push them in new ways
excuse me can i just scoot on that side
of you or like
and have you over here yeah you're
perfect i think time management's a
little bit of a struggle
i tend to get kind of sucked in on one
shot if i'm really interested
i want to push myself a lot and
definitely
feeling that pressure i'm taking photos
really quickly because i feel like i'm
super rushed even though i have three
hours
i really want to get a shot of the
miniature
right on top of the actual landscape
that she's painting
i'm getting so excited and then never
fails there's a person that walks right
into the arch and messes up the light
yeah this lady is
it's for the gram it's a beautiful seed
i don't begrudge people for wanting to
experience it as well
i never tell someone to move i don't
have it in me
i feel frustrated
oh now i have to go talk to them and i
feel uncomfortable
i can do this excuse me i'm sorry is it
okay if i
get a clear shot i'm so sorry i'm really
sorry guys
oh that was so painful
[Applause]
[Music]
i think this is gonna be a good one my
goal
always is to reflect what i saw
and to do that scene justice and
i really hope that the photos i took do
that
[Music]
i had no idea how much went into this
wow
that makes for some really cool pictures
you see it
yeah i think i nailed today's assignment
i've got some really great light off the
heat sources
i got it really excited to go through
the pictures
i wouldn't say that i'm interested in
getting the prettiest photos
i want people to see my photos and i
want them to say i want to know more
about what's going on
her arms sort of mirror the painting
she's doing it's life imitates art or
does art imitate life so everything
it's definitely going to be a challenge
to choose
my images i want it to be a cohesive
set of photos i want it to feel like a
[Applause]
story