2026 SDN Visual Storytelling Festival Speaker Series
The Photo Editor's Perspective
Join us for this closing panel at the SDN Reviews with leading photo editors talking about what they look for, how to pitch to them, and how to create a portfolio for long term success.
Saturday, April 11, 5:00 pm ET via Zoom
Free for SDN Portfolio Reviews participants
$20 for the general public.
Panel discussion with:
Moderated by:
Anne Farrar
Anne Farrar, senior photo editor at National Geographic magazine, oversees visual storytelling for environment and adventure stories. She was previously director of photography for National Geographic Traveler, senior photo editor at The Washington Post, and photo editor with The Dallas Morning News. She has shaped stories with hundreds of photojournalists, which have been recognized by POYi, NPPA, and SND, to name a few. Her current work is guided by the National Geographic mission to explore the planet, protect and preserve our natural and cultural heritage, and tell powerful stories across all platforms that reveal the world around us.
Quentin A. Nardi
Quentin Nardi is chief photo editor for Smithsonian magazine. A visual storyteller, photo editor and director professional with 25 years of national magazine experience in both print and digital platforms, Nardi strives to foster and create engagement that coalesces editorial and social media consistency. Her challenge and objective has always been to produce compelling, award-winning photography; positively affect staff efficiency--and to push boundaries in the digital space.
Prior to Smithsonian, Nardi spent 15 years as a photo editor for Outside, Ski magazine and as director of photography for AARP, where she helped to redefine the visual direction of AARP The Magazine and help to launch a ground-breaking digital platform. Nardi earned a BFA in photography from the University of New Mexico. She has been the Chief Photo Editor for Smithsonian since February 2017.
Ms. Nardi is the recipient of many awards including most recently--the 2023 National Magazine Award for photography.
Maura Friedman
Maura Friedman is a senior photo editor at New York Magazine. Previously, she worked as a senior photo editor at National Geographic and as a visual journalist producing photo and video stories across the Southeast United States.
Bernadette Tuazon
Bernadette Tuazon is the director of photography for CNN Digital, where she oversees photo coverage of breaking news, features, and special projects domestically and internationally. Tuazon manages a team of photo editors across the globe, and as a team work with all newsgathering and programming teams across platforms. Among her responsibilities is setting photography standards across CNN, including work on AI, protecting the newsroom, and assisting in developing AI consumer-facing products for CNN. Before joining CNN, Tuazon was a senior photo editor for the Associated Press, where she covered breaking news, sports, and features. She also served as a juror and reviewer for numerous foundations and portfolio reviews. Tuazon studied General and International Studies at Columbia University in New York and graduated from the University of the Philippines with a B.A. in Communication, Major in Journalism.
Sarah Leen, Moderator
For nearly 20 years, Sarah Leen worked as an independent photographer for National Geographic magazine until 2004, when she joined the staff as a Senior Photo Editor. In 2013, Leen became the first female Director of Photography for National Geographic Magazine and Partners. As a photographer, she published 16 National Geographic magazine stories, one book and produced five covers. She has won numerous awards for both her photography and photo editing from the Pictures of the Year, the World Press Photo Awards, and the International Photography Awards. Leen teaches visual storytelling and photo editing at the Eddie Adams and Missouri Photo workshops and her own Female Perspectives in Visual Storytelling. She has edited ten photobooks since 2020 including Ukraine: A War Crime, the POY Photobook of the Year in 2023, Ukraine Love + War, HABIBI by Antonio Facciolongo, We Cry in Silence by Smita Sharma, the 2022 Lucie Book Award for Independent Book, The Phoenician Collapse by Diego Ibarra Sanchez and A Troubled Home by Anush Babajanyan. Leen is the Co-Chairperson of the Board of the International League of Conservation Photographers, is a member of the Lucie Awards Board of Advisors and in 2024 she received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from her alma mater the University of Missouri School of Journalism. She is an Oskar Barnack Award nominator and participates on many juries and portfolio reviews.
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