Cotton Coulson

Cotton Coulson, National Geographic photographer/filmaker has shot more than 40 stories for National Geographic magazine and National Geographic Traveler. He has spent the better part of his career working in Europe, shooting and filming, from the Arctic and Scandinavia to Italy and France. Cotton Coulson has won numerous awards for his photography and is leading the LEX Digital Video Workshop series together with David Wright. Cotton is currently based in Glasgow, UK, along with his wife, Sisse Brimberg.

Cotton started taking photographs for National Geographic magazine right after graduating from New York University Film School in 1975. He was hired as a contract photographer in 1976, and published over a dozen assignments for the magazine until 1987. Some of his cover titles included stories about Ireland, Berlin, and the Brendan Voyage. He won numerous prizes from the NPPA and White House Press Photographers Association.

At that time, he became associate director of photography at U.S. News & World Report. After several years he moved to the Baltimore Sun, where he was the director of photography.

In the mid-1990s Cotton decided to join the Internet revolution and moved to San Francisco, along with Sisse and their two children, Calder and Saskia. There he became the senior vice-president of CNET, in charge of Product Development. After ten years, he and Sisse moved to Paris and then on to Denmark, where Sisse is originally from.

Today they own a media company called KEENPRESS, which produces photography and HD video films for international publications and companies. Much of their work focuses on the environment, climate issues, and international travel stories.

They are frequent contributors to National Geographic Traveler magazine and have their photo archive with NG Image Collection.