Team Cobb

Jodi Cobb

Jodi Cobb has always been an explorer. Before turning twelve she had circled the globe with her family; since then she has worked in more than sixty-five countries, using her camera to ask questions about the human condition in an increasingly interconnected world. As a staff and freelance photographer with National Geographic for more than three decades, Cobb photographed over thirty stories and developed an international following for her visually powerful work. She received the prestigious Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, was the first woman named White House Photographer of the Year, and one of her photographs is on the Voyager Spacecraft, out in the universe forever. Cobb received her Master of Arts and Bachelor of Journalism degrees from the University of Missouri, and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the Corcoran College of Art and Design. She now lives in Washington, D.C.

You can read more about her career here.

Faculty Mentors

Sarah Leen

In 2013, Sarah Leen became the first female Director of Photography at National Geographic Partners. In late 2019, she founded the Visual Thinking Collective, a community for independent women editors dedicated to visual storytelling.

As a student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Leen was the first woman to receive the College Photographer of the Year award. For 20 years she worked as a freelance photographer for the National Geographic magazine until 2004 when she joined the staff as a Senior Photo Editor.

Leen currently works with photographers and agencies consulting and editing projects and books, including America, Again with VII Photo, the 2020 FotoEvidence World Press Photo Book winner HABIBI by Antonio Faccilongo, Anders Wo by Petra Barth and Like a Bird by Johanna-Maria Fritz.

Leen mentors photographers at the Missouri Photo Workshops, the Maine Media Workshops, the Santa Fe Photo Workshops, the Eddie Adams Workshop and the PhotoLux Festival in Lucca, Italy. She is on the Board of Advisors of the Eddie Adams Workshop and on the Board of Directors of the International League of Conservation Photographers.

Gabrielle Lurie

Raised in Washington D.C., Gabrielle Lurie picked up a camera at 17-years-old. She learned photography in the darkroom as a high school senior. After graduating she moved to New York City where she studied art history and fine art photography at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. In 2014 she moved to San Francisco to start her career as a freelance photojournalist.

In 2016, Lurie joined the staff of The San Francisco Chronicle where she has been pursuing both stills and video. Most recently she began organizing the Bay Area Women Photograph group where photographers in the San Francisco area gather for events, to share ideas and collaborate on work.

Lurie was twice recognized as Photographer of the Year by Pictures of the Year International. She was a finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize.

Photographers