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Your Questions for an NG Photo Editor

Alice Gabriner, photo editor for National Geographic magazine. Photo courtesy Alice Gabriner

Ever wondered what makes a photo “National Geographic” worthy? How someone chooses which photo will be two inches wide, and which will take up two pages? How they manage to turn down thousands for each one that ends up in print? Wonder no more.

Alice Gabriner joined National Geographic magazine in January 2011 as a senior photo editor, after serving as deputy director of photography in the Obama White House, where she was responsible for editing thousands of pictures per week taken by four White House photographers, including Pete Souza, director of the White House Photo Office.  Before the White House, Alice was chief picture editor at TIME Magazine. Over ten years at TIME, she oversaw coverage of two Presidential elections (2000 and 2008) and TIME’s award winning coverage of the Iraq war. Prior to TIME, Alice was deputy director of photography at U.S. News & World Report where she covered primarily national and international stories for the renowned magazine.

Alice’s first contribution to National Geographic magazine was in photo editing the stunning aerial images in “Africa’s Afar Depression” in the January 2012 issue. Her next feature is on the “Journeys of the Apostles,” the cover story of the March issue.

Join Alice Gabriner in a live conversation on the National Geographic Facebook page Wednesday, February 8 at 2:30pm ET (7:30pm UTC). View some of the photos she has edited, then post your questions on Facebook or in the comments section of this blog post. Then tune in for the live interview and post more questions as the conversation develops.

Changing Planet

Meet the Author
Andrew Howley is a longtime contributor to the National Geographic blog, with a particular focus on archaeology and paleoanthropology generally, and ancient rock art in particular. In 2018 he became Communications Director at Adventure Scientists, founded by Nat Geo Explorer Gregg Treinish. Over 11 years at the National Geographic Society, Andrew worked in various ways to share the stories of NG explorers and grantees online. He also produced the Home Page of nationalgeographic.com for several years, and helped manage the Society's Facebook page during its breakout year of 2010. He studied Anthropology with a focus on Archaeology from the College of William & Mary in Virginia. He has covered expeditions with NG Explorers-in-Residence Mike Fay, Enric Sala, and Lee Berger. His personal interests include painting, running, and reading about history. You can follow him on Twitter @anderhowl and on Instagram @andrewjhowley.