Steve Winter
Steve Winter is a National Geographic photographer renowned for his dramatic images of big cats in some of the world’s most challenging environments. From tigers in India to mountain lions in Los Angeles, his work reveals the beauty, power, and fragile coexistence between wildlife and the human world.
Tiger Champion
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Hollywood Hero
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Big Cat Herder
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Tiger Champion • Hollywood Hero • Big Cat Herder •
More about Steve
Steve Winter has been a wildlife photojournalist for National Geographic for over two decades, producing stories on some of the world’s most elusive and iconic big cats. His documentary films on jaguars, leopards, tigers, and tree-climbing lions have aired on Nat Geo WILD and Disney+. His work has received international awards, including BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and BBC Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year, World Press Photo in 2008, 2014 and 2020; and twice from Picture of the Year International’s Global Vision Award. Steve has appeared on 60 Minutes, CBS Nightly News, NPR, BBC, CNN and other outlets.
Together with three other partners, including his wife—award-winning science journalist and author Sharon Guynup who works at the intersection of environmental issues and public policy—and wildlife filmmaker Bertie Gregory, Steve founded the nonprofit organization Big Cat Voices. Its mission is to turn issues into stories, and stories into change, by creating world-class media that gives cats a voice and highlights the most pressing threats they face.
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Steve has sparked change on a global level. His iconic image of the beloved and recently deceased cougar P-22 under the Hollywood sign helped create what will be the world’s largest wildlife overpass. Steve and Sharon’s story on the Thai Tiger Temple proved wildlife trafficking and prompted officials to shut it down; his work on jaguars in Brazil has helped them rebound; and his story on captive tigers in the U.S. helped pass a new law, the Big Cat Public Safety Act.
Speaking Topics
Conservation
Exploration
Nature
Watch Steve in action
Presentations
The Race to Save Big Cats
Of the world’s 40 wild cat species, 80% are declining, with 16 now vulnerable, threatened, or endangered. Award-winning photographer and filmmaker Steve Winter takes you from the Himalayan snow leopards to the mountain lions Hollywood Hills, revealing key threats, conservation successes, and places where humans and big cats are learning to coexist. An adrenaline-filled journey celebrates these extraordinary predators.
“My goal as a wildlife photographer is not just to create beautiful images, but to capture the essence of the animals I photograph – their strength, their vulnerability, their individual personalities.”
– Steve Winter