Sarah Leen received a BA from the University of Missouri in 1974 and did graduate studies at the University of Missouri School of Journalism where she was named College Photographer of the Year in 1979 and awarded an internship at the National Geographic Magazine. Leen then worked as a newspaper photographer at the Topeka Capital Journal in Kansas and the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1986. For twenty years Leen worked as a freelance photographer for the National Geographic magazine. In 2004 she joined the staff as a Senior Photo Editor and was named Director of Photography in 2013. She has been honored by numerous photography and editing awards from the Pictures of the Year International, World Press Photos and the American Society of Magazine Editors. She is the curator the Power of Photography: 125 Years of National Geographic opening later this month at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles.
