20 stunning images from the Nat Geo archives: whales, weddings, and a winter wonderland

A tourist reaching out to a curious cetacean. A joyous marriage celebration in Iraq. A cowboy hugging his daughter as he arrives home. Check out some of the pictures featured in our Photo of the Day.

Photography · Photo of the Day · By Yasmine Maggio · Photographs by Allison Hess · Published February 27, 2026 · 1 min read

Topics: Photography, Photo of the Day

A single National Geographic photograph can create an invisible thread of connection—inviting the viewer into an unforgettable encounter with a moment in time, a stunning snapshot of the natural world, a rich and beautiful human culture. Within these images from the archives, we feel that thrill of contact—with juvenile golden eagles landing on a photographer in 1940s Wyoming; with a whale approaching a boat in Laguna San Ignacio, Mexico, in 2017. There are moments of joy—like those captured in Lynsey Addario's 2011 photo of a lavish wedding in Baghdad, Iraq—and of quiet longing, such as in John Stanmeyer’s 2013 photo of migrants on Djibouti’s Khorley Beach searching for a cell signal to keep in touch with loved ones back home. Through these frames, we are reminded that we are all one world—animals, people, land, seas—and forever connected.

Allison Hess curated this selection of images for Photo of the Day, a daily look at photography from National Geographic's archives. Yasmine Maggio writes and researches the captions. Check out today's photo here.