Geert Vanden Wijngaert was born in Leuven, Belgium, on April 19, 1974 and lives in Brussels. He studied photography in Mechelen, Belgium. On April 1, 1995 he started working as a freelance photographer for local newspapers and magazines. After traveling to Pakistan in September 1996 he became fulltime freelancer for Belga Press Agency in Brussels. He also made several socially inspired travel documentaries for belgian weekly P-Magazine. In 2001, Geert left Belga Press Agency to start working for The Associated Press in Brussels now covering mostly international politics (european institutions, Nato,...) and sports (Champions League...) as well as daily news. He also freelanced for Belgium’s biggest daily Het Laatste Nieuws. In 2002 and 2003, Geert won the Nikon Photo Press Award for best “News Photo”