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List Of Top 10 Most Famous Photographers Of India

Most Famous And Best Indian Photographers
Photo Credits: Retha Ferguson

Here is the N4M List of India’s Top 10 Most Famous Photographers (in Reverse order). India is known the world over for its scenic beauty. The picturesque Himalayas to the west and the sunset beaches to the south. The rich flora and fauna that too is found in abundance. The Royal Bengal Tiger to the Majestic Indian Elephants. Indian photographers have been lucky to have made good use of such diversity and thus have excelled in many categories of photography across the world. Be it the Wildlife, the Fashion Or the Innovative Filmi tricks, Indian photographers have set themselves a notch above the rest. Photography has thus attracted many an Indian talents to turn their passions into full time careers in photography. Here is a list of such Top 10 Most Famous Photographers

10Rathika Ramasamy

Rathika Ramasamy is known for her work in wildlife photography and she is even hasan accolade for her photographs. Rathika has also contributed in Clean Ganga campaign and JNU annually also features her birds’ photographs. Also she is one of the founding members of the Photography Art Association of India. She has also been awarded with the International Camera Fair Award for her excellence in wildlife. Rathikais the first Indian woman who has international recognition as a Wildlife Photographer.

9Ashok Salian

Ashok Salian is recognized for his photographs of the Gujarat Riots and his photographs are being distributed in all the leading Magazines and Newspapers- the New York Times, Washington Post etc. Salian also covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other important events and photographed tsunami victims at Cuuddalore. He was awarded by World Press by Photo of The Year award 2004. He had also held several exhibitions worldwide and has various awards in Photographic Competition.

8Gautam Rajadhyaksh

Gautam Rajadhyaksh was one of the leading Fashion Photographers of India. He was best known for his work in Portrait Photography. For the first time he got introduced to fashion photography in 1980 and gradually explored the Industry and did portfolios, commercials campaigns and he is acclaimed as a Glamour Photographer as he almost photographed all the celebrities of the Indian film Industry. He also released coffee table book named Faces. He had his first ever photo exhibition which showcased 20 years of his photography work.

7Sooni Taraporevala

Sooni Taraporevala is well known for her permanent collections of photographs at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. As Sooni worked for the book on the Parsi Community which kick started her work of Photo Documentation. Moreover her photographs have been exhibited in many countries worldwide –the U.S.A, India, France and Britain. Her photographs have been exhibited at art galleries and she also had a photographic exhibition at the Harvard University.

6Abdul Kalam Azad

Abdul Kalam Azad is visionary photographer. He believes that art is in everyday life. Azad had contributed his efforts in the field of politics, culture, contemporary history and social issues he worked out of the box and captured the emotions and suffering which made his work a social anthropology. He is the Director of Projects365. This actually preserves photographs of rapid change in culture. Azad’s work represents the social life of local culture and in historical context. He has also worked on many projects related to socio-politics, historic and many more.

5Atul Kasbekar

Atul Kasbekar is known as a Fashion Photographer and Ex-Honorary Chairman of Photographic Guide of India and as the Director of Bling! Atul is best known for his work on the Kingfisher Calendar and since 2000 he has shot numerous editions of that very calendar. Atul is more of a corporate person as he has launched an Entertainment Solution (Bling!) and another company called Coperate Image. He had also contributed in the field of Film Production and had worked on Films- Neerja and Tumari Sulu.

4Pablo Barthholomew

Pablo Barthholomew got obsessed with photography and gave up his schooling and practiced by photographing his family and street life. He is noted for his documentary projects. Pablo did remarkable work for his series Time in the Mercy of Eternity on Morphine addicts in India. Till 2000 he was represented by The French-American news agency. He also covered the Bhopal catastrophe and funeral of Indira Gandhi and basically covered most of the independent India tragedies and riots. He won World Press Photo of the Year for his photo series and for the Bhopal catastrophe. Moreover he was awarded with the ‘Padma Shri’.

3Dabboo Ratnani

Dabboo Ratnani is the most populous fashion(portrait and celebrity) photographer. He also photographs for all the leading magazines- Film fare, Elle, Famine, Verve, The Man and many more. Ratnani was at the jury for the Miss India Contest and recently he judged the INTM (India’s Next Top Model) show aired on MTV India. He is popularly known for his annual calendar. His trademark calendar awaits Bollywood as launch of this calendar is major event which also features 24 celebrities every year.

2Dayanita Singh

Dayanita Singh is a photographer with the mindset of a visual communicator. She focuses on the photographic images so that people can relate and connect with them. Moreover her work has the essence of poetic and narrative nature. Singh had her specialization in Documentary Photography which increases its photographic image. She is popularly known for her multiple book – objects and till date she has published 12 books and had many solo and group exhibitions. One of her collections has been a solo display at Hayward Gallery, London.

1Raghu Rai

Raghunath Rai Chowdhry, more famous as Raghu Rai, a young photojournalist devoted his life to photography since 1965 and he is also corresponding with Magnum photos at present. He was awarded with the ‘Padma Shri’ and with the Photographer of the year award from the U.S.A. Rai has contributed his work in the field of social and political culture. He is also known for his coverage on the Bhopal disaster and he even wrote a book named Exposure: A Corporate Crime. Moreover he is known for his books describing his experience and views as a photojournalist – Reflection of Color, Reflection in Black and White, A Saint Mother: Life Dedicated. For India Today Rai played an important role as a visualizer/ picture editor and photographer in its rising years. He’s widely known for his immense coverage on India.


Also See: Top 10 Best Fashion Photographers of India


1 COMMENT

  1. Thanks for the amazing list of top most famous photographers of India.. It’s well compiled and positions each of them well.. Kudos for the effort & the impartiality & genuineness

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