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NGT Editor, Photog Talk About Bali Story

When terrorist bombings rocked the Southeast Asian island of Bali on October 12, killing over 180 people, the National Geographic Traveler issue on newsstands had a cover story begging the question, "Bali, Still Paradise?"

The story concluded that yes, it was still an idyllic vacation spot despite numerous economic and social changes over the last 25 years. Though the piece had been planned 18 months in advance, the timing seemed unfortunate to some. Still, editor Keith Bellows never considered pulling the issue, which hit newsstands two weeks prior to the bombings.

"When you're doing a travel magazine, you're constantly risking the fact that the world is an unpredictable place," Bellows says. "Bali was as predictable as you could get, but that's the nature of terrorism."

The cover photo and inside pictures were shot by Justin Guariglia, a contributing photographer to Contact Press Images. Guariglia, who was in nearby Singapore when the bombing occurred, traveled to Bali the day after the attack and took pictures of the aftermath.

"I'm primarily a feature photographer, but I was particularly interested in the breaking news angle of this story," Guariglia says. "At the time it didn't bother me, but it's gradually setting in, and it's not a pleasant feeling," Guariglia says of his numerous trips to the morgue.

Despite the bombings, Bellows says the magazine doesn't plan on changing the way it approaches its overseas coverage. "The nature of photography is you're in the middle of life as it happens," he says. "I don't know many photographers who, when they hear of something going down, don't grab their cameras and get right in the middle of it."

Guariglia, who did exactly that, says he's been able to absorb the local customs and cultures while working in Bali and Southeast Asia for the past several years. This experience helped him with the National Geographic Traveler shoot as well as his news coverage of the bombings.

"If you speak a little bit of the language you can slip past the [police] lines and get access to just about anything," Guariglia says. "That's why I try to learn a little bit about the local culture wherever I go, language included."

Despite his unprecedented access as a Western photographer, Guariglia says U.S. editors showed little interest in his pictures, even the ones of the American casualties being flown back to the states.

"Most of my U.S. editors were all following the story, but seemed to be taking a fairly non-proactive stance towards what was happening," Guariglia says. "As I later learned, most were relying on the wires to feed them what they needed."

While the American media was focused on the sniper attacks around Washington, D.C., the Australian media was intensely focused on the Bali story.

"This was huge for them," Guariglia says of the Australian press. "More Australians died per capita in this than Americans in September 11th."