Chris Johns is a photographer and currently Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic Magazine.
Born in Oregon in April 1951, He studied agriculture at Oregon State University and photojournalism at the University of Minnesota. Johns, who began his photography career as a staff member at The Topeka Capital-Journal (where he and Gerald Ford's daughter Susan Ford were the paper's two interns in 1975). He was named National Press Photographers Association's Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 1979. After joining National Geographic, he contributed extensively, shooting two cover articles before becoming an editor.
Johns has photographed extensively in Africa. The foreword to Johns' photography book Valley of Life: Africa's Great Rift was written by Nelson Mandela.
He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with his wife and daughters.