What I love about National Geographic photographer Jim Richardson is that his heart and camera are rooted in small-town America. He has seen the world several times over, but continues to find, in his words “interesting stuff” in his hometown of Lindsborg, Kansas.

Interesting stuff is in the eye of the beholder to be sure, and when you’re looking through curious, observing eyes it’s obviously everywhere—easier said than done. Jim continues to inspire photographers of all levels with his gorgeous color magazine photography and his respectful, down-home, simple black-and-white photographs of real people living their very real day to day lives.

His work is featured at his gallery, Small World, on Lindborg’s Main Street—he continues to give back to the community that has given him so much.

Beyy Klauman and her Geese by Jim Richardson

A 22-page story about Jim Richardson’s 30 years of photographing life in the north central Kansas town of Cuba, population 230, was published in National Geographic and featured twice by CBS News Sunday Morning. His 1979 study of adolescence, “High School USA,” is now considered a photo essay classic and is used in college classrooms.

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