Karine Aigner is an award-winning visual journalist whose work focuses on the delicate relationship between nature and the human world. A self-taught photographer who spent almost a decade as a picture editor at National Geographic, Karine is only the 5th woman ever to win the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year award–a testament to her unparalleled talent and dedication to her craft.

Aigner’s life reads like a set of novellas. Raised in Saudi Arabia, Karine motorcycled through Vietnam, circumnavigated the globe by ship, taught English in Taiwan, and then there was the time the hyena pups chewed her shoes (while on her feet!). On her first trip to Africa, she fell in love with a continent. From one chapter to the next, her adventures uncover her fervor to tell the stories of life through the lens of a camera; her passion became the stories of the animals: their relationships to humans, their relationships to their own world, and their existence in the space between the two.

As a conservation photographer, Karine’s work serves as a powerful conduit for change. Her images not only captivate audiences but also inspire action, igniting conversations about our collective responsibility to protect the planet. In addition to her photography, Karine is a passionate educator, sharing her expertise through workshops, tours, and speaking engagements around the globe. Karine is an associate fellow with the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and a member of Girls Who Click (a non-profit organization offering free photographic workshops to inspire teen girls that they too can have careers as a wildlife photographer). Karine’s work has graced the pages of National Geographic Magazine, the New York Times, Audubon Magazine, the Washington Post, WWF Magazine, The Nature Conservancy and numerous other esteemed publications. Aigner invites us to pause, reflect, and reevaluate our relationship with the planet we live on; her lens is not just a window into nature—it’s a call to action to pay attention to what we have to lose.