Wednesday, December 31, 1969.

Through Fri, July 12
FREE!

Year after year the editors, writers, and photographers of National Geographic magazine bring readers captivating coverage of "the world and all that's in it," and 2012 was no exception. Among the many topics from the past year were stories of orphan elephants, revealing the DNA differences and similarities of twins, and rescuing koalas. A handful of carefully chosen images help shape each article. Yet, thousands of worthy photographs never make the cut.

Selected from images shot on assignment for 29 articles, the photographs in this exhibition offer a glimpse at the richness of what is left behind after editing is complete. Take a peek behind the scenes to learn about the merits of the photograph, why it caught the editor's eye, or how the photographer got the shot.