Food Market, Papeete, Tahiti, 1997

A shopper seeks relief from the heat in the cool recesses of an indoor fish stall at a food market in Papeete, Tahiti. On the northwest coast of Tahiti, Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia and one of the largest urban areas in the South Pacific. The city gained prominence as a whaling and trading center due to its accessible harbor, and it continues to attract transpacific tourist ships today.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Charting a New Course: French Polynesia," June 1997, National Geographic magazine)

Buy a print of this photo.