Writing a bio is always a bit of a strange thing to do. The bottom line is that I am grateful to make a living from photography. It’s been a privileged life that has taken me all over the world and I’d like to think it’s given me some perspective. I’ve been able to travel to well over 100 countries and what I have found across all the cultures I have visited is that we have so much more in common than we have issues that divide us. Increasingly, my focus is the well-being of the planet we all find ourselves on and how we can preserve all that we have for our future generations. I’m a father and that has only reinforced my convictions. I hope that through my photography I might offer a glimpse of our commonality, what unites us and what we must guard against in order to offer a viable future for our children.

Formal Biography:

Brent Stirton is a South African photographer with an extensive history in the documentary world. Brent’s work has been published by National Geographic Magazine, GEO, Le Figaro, Stern, Der Spiegel, Paris Match, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Time, The New York Times Magazine, The UK Sunday Times Magazine and many other respected international titles. 

Brent is a fellow of the National Geographic society and a National Geographic explorer. He has worked for UN OCHA, UNICEF, UN FAO, Doctors without Borders, Drugs for Neglected Disease, WWF, CNN, the Ford, Clinton and Gates Foundations, the Nike Foundation and the World Economic Forum. Brent has shot numerous reports for Human Rights Watch. He has done commercial assignments including annual reports for Novartis and commercial work for Volvo and Landrover. He is a Canon Ambassador.

Brent has received 13 awards from World Press Photo and 16 awards from The Pictures of the Year International contest. He has won a National Magazine Award for his work for National Geographic Magazine in the Congo. He has won the Visa D’or award from Visa Pour L’Image twice for feature photography. Brent has twice been a finalist for the Prix Pictet award. He has been named Wildlife photographer of the year by the British Natural History Museum and has won Wildlife photojournalist of the year five times. In 2016 Brent won the National Geographic Magazine Photographer's Photographer Award. He has received multiple awards from the World Photography Awards, the Overseas Press Club, The Webbys, The Association of International Broadcasters, the HIPA Awards, the Frontline Club, the Deadline Club, Days Japan, China International Photo Awards, the Lead Awards Germany, Graphis, Communication Arts, American Photography, American Photo and the American Society of Publication Designers as well as the London Association of Photographers. Brent has received multiple Lucie Awards including International photographer of the Year.

Brent has been recognized by the United Nations for his work on the Environment and in the field of HIV/AIDS. Brent guided and co-produced a documentary on Virunga National Park - The Gorilla Murders for National Geographic Television as well as appearing in the show. The documentary won the Emmy for Best Investigative Documentary Feature. Brent received a Peabody Award for his work with Human Rights Watch for most significant work in an electronic medium.

Brent’s work has appeared in numerous print shows around the world and his images are in a number of museum collections. Brent currently spends most of his time working on long-term investigative projects for National Geographic Magazine. He is a Senior Correspondent for Getty Images. He remains committed to issues relating to wildlife and conservation, global health, diminishing cultures, sustainability and the environment.