Gabriel Cowan graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a degree in anthropology in 2019. In December 2021, he obtained a certificate in digital photography from the University of California, Berkley. In October 2023 he completed a master's in visual anthropology at the Granada Center, University of Manchester, England.

Gabriel's first documentary was about how oil pipeline Line 3 would affect Minnesota wild rice and Ojibwe livelihood. Gabriel is currently focusing his work on exploring how people’s relationships with land, plants, and animals are shifting in the context of climate change—and how folklore, myths, and cultural narratives can play a role in repairing those relationships.
 
Since living in the UK, Gabriel continued his love of folklore he picked up working on a podcast called Folklife Today in Washington, D.C. at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center. In the South-West of England he entered the exciting folk renaissance taking place today. He started photographing morris dancing and Neo-pagan folk events throughout Somerset, Herefordshire, Cornwall, and Wales. British folklore is not only composed of myths and legends, it encompasses everything from lower class worker’s rights to climate activism. It’s something that is increasingly bringing communities together both in person and digitally. Gabriel is interested in not only the beautiful costumes and customs but also anthropologically in the anti-colonial and animist ontology within folklore. 
 
Through photography and film, Gabriel aims to contribute to organizations working across environmental, Indigenous, and cultural spaces. 

Gabriel now lives in Washington, D.C.