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Chris Rainier, a National Geographic photographer considered one of the leading documentary photographers working today, will present a talk as part of the museum's 50th anniversary lecture series.

His life's mission is to capture on film both the remaining natural wilderness and indigenous cultures around the globe and to use images to create social change.

Rainier co-directs the National Geographic Society's Cultural Ethnosphere Program as well as the All Roads Photography Program. He is a contributing editor for National Geographic Traveler magazine, specializing in culture; a contributing photographer for National Geographic Adventure magazine; and a correspondent on photography for NPR's Day to Day radio show. Rainier also heads National Geographic's Enduring Voices Project, which is documenting the world's most endangered languages.

The lecture series is part of the celebration of the museum's fiftieth anniversary, and is free and open to all.

The series brings in worldwide experts to speak on topics related to the museum's collections and exhibitions on archaeology, Egyptology, decorative arts, the American Civil War, geology, and natural history.