45 Stunning Unpublished Photos From National Geographic's Archives

By Erin Kelly | Edited By Savannah Cox

Published March 31, 2017

Updated January 16, 2019

To commemorate their 125th year of publication, National Geographic has released some astounding, never before published photos.

National Geographic Photos Gramophone Dog 1911

National Geographic Photos 1917 World War One Dog

National Geographic Photos Police Dog Bites

1 of 46

A Thai woman poses in a Panung, the national costume, 1907.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

2 of 46

A rainbow arches over Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

3 of 46

A portrait of an Ojibway, or Native Chippewa Indian girl, 1907.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

4 of 46

A dog observes a gramophone during a South Pole expedition, 1911.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

5 of 46

A child looks on as stars are sewn onto a US flag, 1917.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

6 of 46

A World War I soldier bandages a Red Cross canine helper, 1917.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

7 of 46

A girl pets a calf in Scotland, 1918.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

8 of 46

A man herds sheep with the help of his collies in Scotland, 1919.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

9 of 46

A police dog biting some ankles during a training exercise, 1919.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

10 of 46

Locals relax by the tulip fields along the canal in Haarlem, The Netherlands, 1931.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

11 of 46

Inside a Canadian Railway classroom, 1932.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

12 of 46

A man roaming Chicago’s famous LaSalle Street train station, 1936.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

13 of 46

A Drugstore Cowboy prepares to make deliveries, 1938.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

14 of 46

A blue-ribbon winning mare with its owner in Waterloo, Iowa, 1939.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

15 of 46

People sunbathe beside a swimming pool in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1941.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

16 of 46

A dog leaps over a woman, 1941.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

17 of 46

An x-ray demonstration of the new Westinghouse electric razor, 1941.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

18 of 46

An Ouled Nail woman in Algeria wears a tattoo customary for dancers, 1949.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

19 of 46

Hillside houses overlook smoke-belching steel mills in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1949.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

20 of 46

Force-feeding a shake to ensure its venom supply, 1950.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

21 of 46

A demonstration shows how a metal aircraft sheds lightning, 1950.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

22 of 46

Uniformed boys pose with king penguins at the London Zoo, 1953.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

23 of 46

Children play barefoot in a cactus garden on the Canary Islands, 1955.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

24 of 46

Niagara Falls illuminated with rainbow flood lights, 1956.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

25 of 46

A man examines the teeth of a 10-month-old Alaskan Malamute puppy near the South Pole, 1957.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

26 of 46

A woodman notches a felled tree’s trunk for sectioning in Western Australia, 1962.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

27 of 46

People picnic on the rocky heights overlooking Harpers Ferry in Maryland, 1962.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

28 of 46

Princess Grace Kelly in Monaco, 1962.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

29 of 46

Long exposure of Caracas, Venezuela, 1963.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

30 of 46

A chorus line high kicks during a show at Cafe Le Can Can in Miami Beach, Florida, 1963.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

31 of 46

Surfers overpopulate the waves off of Bondi Beach in Australia, 1963.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

32 of 46

Children playing at sunset in Ontario, Canada, 1963.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

33 of 46

With claws bared, a kitten attacks its own mirrored reflection, 1964.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

34 of 46

A performance of the opera, Aida, in New York City, 1964.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

35 of 46

Members of the Irish Guard ignore their fainted comrade, 1966.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

36 of 46

The Chicago skyline as a backdrop for rooftop party-goers, 1967.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

37 of 46

Bison roaming Yellowstone National Park, 1967.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

38 of 46

Marines walk the San Diego streets amid neon signs, 1969.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

39 of 46

A Ragtime piano man enjoying the spotlight, 1969.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

40 of 46

An Egyptian belly dancer performs for tourists in a nightclub in Cairo, 1972.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

41 of 46

Women farming in sugar beet fields, 1974.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

42 of 46

Patrons of a KFC in Abu Dhabi, 1975.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

43 of 46

Kids in Murmansk, former Soviet Union endure their daily dose of Vitamin D by lamp-light, 1977.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

44 of 46

A shadow of a man holding a bicycle appears on a wall near the Zambezi River, 1996.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

45 of 46

Nuns in Peru take a break to toss a ball around, 1998.Tumblr/NatGeo FOUND

46 of 46

In 2013, National Geographic began to release many rare photographs from its archives, putting history at our fingertips like never before.

The professionally-curated collection goes by the name of FOUND, and offers a clear vision of cultures and places lost to time.

"We hope to bring new life to these images and the history they represent by sharing them with audiences far and wide," the magazine says. "Many of the images are missing their original date or location, but each represents a story, captured in time yet in many ways timeless."

In the gallery above, you'll find a chronological collection of 45 images that were once lost but now are found.

Enjoy these National Geographic photos? Check out these great shots from the magazine's past travel contests.

author

An All That's Interesting writer since 2013, Erin Kelly focuses on historic places, natural wonders, environmental issues, and the world of science. Her work has also been featured in Smithsonian and she's designed several book covers as a graphic artist.

editor

Savannah Cox holds a Master's in International Affairs from The New School as well as a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and now serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Sheffield. Her work as a writer has also appeared on DNAinfo.

Citation copied

COPY

Kelly, Erin. "45 Cool Photos National Geographic Kept Hidden In The Archives." AllThatsInteresting.com, March 31, 2017, https://allthatsinteresting.com/national-geographic-photos. Accessed August 25, 2025.