Aaron Gekoski is an environmental photojournalist, filmmaker and investigative storyteller specialising in human-animal conflict. For almost two decades, he has travelled internationally documenting the complex and often troubling relationship between people and wildlife. His work moves between photography, documentary film and on-screen reporting, examining the systems, industries and human behaviours behind animal exploitation.
From illegal wildlife and pet trades to deforestation, marine conservation and wildlife tourism, Gekoski combines visual storytelling with investigation to expose difficult realities while examining the cultural and economic forces that allow them to persist.
Photography remains central to Gekoskis’s practice, but his work has increasingly developed into long-form investigative journalism and documentary filmmaking. His images have appeared in international publications and books, while his photographic investigations have taken him into wildlife markets, tourism attractions, breeding facilities and communities living alongside threatened species. In 2024, he was named Environmental Photographer of the Year by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation for See No Evil, his photograph of an orangutan exploited by the tourism industry in Thailand.
As co-founder of Four Corners Film & Photography, Gekoski has produced or appeared in more than 100 short and long-form documentaries. Broadcasters and platforms including National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Smithsonian, Sky, Amazon, and Apple TV have acquired his films. His feature documentary Eyes of the Orangutan grew out of five years of investigating the wildlife tourism industry and brought together photography, field investigation, advocacy, and film.
Gekoskis recent feature documentary Dethroned marks a significant expansion of this investigative approach. Produced and directed with Will Foster-Grundy, the film follows Gekoski across multiple continents as he investigates humanity’s changing relationship with big cats, from commercial breeding and exotic pet ownership to illegal wildlife trade and poaching. Rather than treating these issues as isolated acts of cruelty, Dethroned examines the wider systems that commodify animals once regarded as symbols of power and reverence.
The film received Best of Show at the 2024 Impact DOCS Awards, a Gold Dolphin for Investigative Documentaries and Reports at the 2024 Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards, and the Grand Award at the 2025 US International Awards. It was also recognised by the New York Festivals TV & Film Awards in the Investigative Journalism category. Through projects such as Dethroned, Gekoski increasingly works at the intersection of environmental journalism, documentary cinema and conservation, using investigation and visual evidence to make complex wildlife issues accessible to broad audiences.
aron is the founder of Raise the Red Flag, an ongoing campaign to end cruel Wildlife Tourism Attractions. Recent photographic investigations have seen him travel the world to document abuse, with his imagery gaining significant international press coverage. He designed and launched a platform so tourists can report abusive operators, in partnership with Born Free Foundation. He has just completed a feature film on orangutans and the Wildlife Tourism industry, made with the support of numerous NGO’s.
Books
ANIMOSITY: Adventures from the Frontline of Conservation
Published by G2 Entertainment
Awards
Wildlife Photographer of the Year
Nature Photographer of the Year
Underwater Photographer of the Year
Environmental Photographer of the Year
Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year
BigPicture Natural World Photography Competition
Travel Photographer of the Year
