Husband-and-wife team Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson have been documenting the profound relationship between indigenous cultures and the natural world since 1997. Their work spans five continents, capturing the ecological challenges faced by wildlife and humanity alike. Their first book, Lost Africa: The Eyes of Origin (Assouline, 2005), explores the struggles of tribes from Ethiopia to Namibia through striking black-and-white photography.

Alongside their son Lysander, they have authored Walking Thunder: The Last Stand of the African Elephant (Merrell, 2009) and In Predatory Light (Merrell, 2013), dedicated to the world’s three largest predators: the lion, the tiger, and the polar bear. Their latest book, Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity (2022), features a prologue by Jane Goodall. In 2024, they released Wonder and the World: A Childhood Among the Species.

Cyril, an Academy Award nominee for his 1988 anti-nuclear documentary A Stitch for Time, and Marie have also produced the feature documentary Walking Thunder, a 20-year-in-the-making ode to the African elephant. Now streaming on Amazon Prime, the film follows their son Lysander’s journey, growing up among Africa’s wildlife. Their work has been showcased globally, including at the COP21 Paris Climate Exhibit in 2015, seen by world leaders during the Paris Climate Accord.