Jodi Cobb
Jodi Cobb is a pioneering National Geographic photographer who has exposed hidden worlds—from geishas to human trafficking—revealing the depths of the human experience.
First Among Firsts
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Wayfinder
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Visual Documentarian
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First Among Firsts • Wayfinder • Visual Documentarian •
More about Jodi
Whether exposing the tragedy of human trafficking for her landmark National Geographic article, “21st Century Slavery,” or exploring the hidden world of the women of Saudi Arabia, photographer Jodi Cobb has searched for humanity in some of the world’s most complex, impenetrable environments.
Jodi launched her career as a newspaper photojournalist, documenting the chaotic and revolutionary 1970s. Shooting everything from hard news to Rock & Roll icons, Jodi proved she could do the things the guys could do.
In her three-decade career as the first woman field photographer on staff at National Geographic, she shot over 30 stories for the magazine. Since women had historically been portrayed in the media through men’s eyes, Jodi made it her mission to only show women doing interesting things.
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Jodi has traveled through 100 countries, breaking gender, and cultural barriers. As one of the first western photojournalists to cross China when it reopened to the outside world after decades of isolation, Jodi traveled 7,000 miles from Beijing to the borders of Burma and Vietnam. Her book Geisha introduced the world to the vanishing ancient culture and high art of the Geisha in Japan.
Jodi received the prestigious Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism and was the first woman named White House Photographer of the Year. One of Jodi’s photographs is in Interstellar Space on the Golden Record, launched on Voyagers 1 and 2 spacecraft, in 1977. The contents of the record—meant to be a greeting from Earth to extraterrestrials—was selected for NASA by a committee chaired by Dr. Carl Sagan.
Speaking Topics
Resilience
Exploration
Overcoming Obstacles
Culture
Watch Jodi in action
Presentations
4 Decades: Through the Lens
Go on an awe-inspiring visual journey through the lens with one of the most groundbreaking photographers of our time. Jodi Cobb shattered the glass ceiling as the first—and, for a time, only—female staff photographer at National Geographic. Her powerful images gave the world unprecedented access to hidden societies, from Japan’s Geisha community to the veiled worlds of Arab women.
"Photography has the power to inspire, to horrify, to change your mind, to change your heart, and to change your actions."
– Jodi Cobb