The Wonder and the Worry

Chris Johns made some of the most recognizable pictures of our time. He's the only field photographer to rise through the ranks of National Geographic to become Editor-In-Chief, heading the world's most iconic magazine during a period of industry disruption, digital transformation and ecological crises. After spending a career as a journalist walking the tightrope between worry and wonder, he's now being shadowed by a visual artist with her own distinct ethos. His daughter Louise Johns, who picked up a camera as a child during her father's last field assignment, is shaping her own photography vision one image at a time.

The Wonder and the Worry  is a documentary feature film about two amazing careers, a lyrical exploration of family and, the craft of photography and the power of journalism to effect change. It is also the story of the transformation of the most influential institutions in publishing, the National Geographic Magazine, which has long celebrated a natural world now perched on the edge of irreversible global change. This is a story of the soul of journalism and of the achingly beautiful planet balanced precariously close to the edge of devastation.

Based in the Pacific Northwest, David Baker is a writer, documentary filmmaker, and freelance media producer dedicated to storytelling that makes a positive global impact. Their latest documentary, The Wonder and the Worry, explores the careers of father-daughter National Geographic photographers Chris and Louise Johns. The film premiered at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in February 2024 and earned Best Environmental Film at the Tryon International Film Festival later that year, with a wider release slated for the fall of 2025.

Their filmography also includes American Wine Story, Saving Atlantis—which screened at the United Nations COP16 Biodiversity Conference in Colombia—and Three Days of Glory, the 2018 IACP award-winner for best film. As an author, they have published the nonfiction title The Lost Continent and the novel Vintage, which has been described as both "spellbinding" and "positively delightful." Their writing has appeared in a wide range of publications, including Narrative.ly, Terra Magazine, MSN, and The Briar Cliff Review.

In addition to their production work, they teach documentary film studies in the School of Writing, Literature and Film at Oregon State University. An avid photographer both above and below the water, their visual work is featured on Unsplash. They live on the rainy side of the mountains in Oregon, where they spend their time hiking, surfing, baking, and reading when they aren't working on their next book.

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