James Wellford is a Senior Visuals Editor and producer for Global Issues at National Geographic. Stories he has worked on at NatGeo include; Afghanistan, the Science of Sleep, the Circular Economy, the restoration at Notre Dame Cathedral, Covid stories around the world, El Salvador, Falcons, Lithium, the crisis in Niger/Mali, World War II Veterans, Uncontacted People in the Amazon, Ebola in the DRC, Eritrea, the Sudan, Uganda, Ghana, Kashmir, Indonesia, and Migration/refugee issues throughout the world.

Prior to his time at NatGeo, he was the International Photography Editor at Newsweek Magazine for 12 years. He has also worked as a visual editor for Foreign Policy, CNN, and the Smithsonian.

James is a graduate of Brown University and a Knight Wallace Fellow from the University of Michigan. His career spans decades during which time he has served at an editorial director at Visura, founded ScreenProjects.org, edited the New York Daily News archival collection, curated numerous photography exhibitions , and served on a number of photography juries around the world including the Leica Oskar Barnack award, the Tim Hetherington Trust, the Overseas Press Club, PX3 in Paris, the Cortona Photo Festival, and at POYi.

Dedicated to visual education, James has taught at the International Center of Photography and the New School in NYC.