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 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 on visual ethnobiology and aims to engage in a career centered around creating documentaries about the relationships between people, plants, animals and how they are changing due to the impending climate crisis. 

While an undergraduate, Gabriel took music technology classes which would give him the technical skills needed to record audio, create sound design using electronic synthesis, and MIDI composition. Gabriel would then apply these skills to his anthropology classes by creating deeper forms of documentation of ethnographic field work; most importantly, interview recording. 

After graduation, Gabriel moved to Washington, D.C., where he had an internship at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center. His main task was working on the podcast series Folklife Today. 

Gabriel took up photography while living in Washington, D.C., which would eventually lead to filmmaking.

Gabriel now lives in Bristol, England.