India’s vast visual heritage has been meticulously documented and imaginatively reimagined by diverse photographers across generations. From political history to social documentary and avant-garde art, these 11 figures stand out for their unmatched vision, technical mastery, and cultural impact.
1. Raghu Rai
Raghu Rai (b. 1942) is regarded as the doyen of Indian photojournalism. After beginning his career with The Statesman in the 1960s, he was invited to join Magnum Photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Rai’s extensive documentation of India’s social and political landscape has appeared in major global publications.
Major Works: Coverage of the Bangladesh War of 1971, Bhopal Gas Tragedy, photo books such as Raghu Rai’s Delhi, The Sikhs, and Mother Teresa. Twice the recipient of the Padma Shri and multiple international honors.
2. Homai Vyarawalla
India’s first woman photojournalist (1913–2012), Vyarawalla’s work chronicled the last days of the British Raj, the freedom struggle, and the emergence of modern India. She defied social norms, working for the Bombay Chronicle and British Information Service
Major Works: Iconic images of India’s independence, including Gandhi, Nehru, national leaders, and Republic Day celebrations. Her archive is housed with The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. Conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2011.
3. Dayanita Singh
An artist who redefines the photobook as both object and exhibit, Singh (b. 1961) explores the archive, memory, and the shifting meanings of photographic images. Her “mobile museums” and “book-objects” have reimagined the form itself.
Major Works: Museum Bhavan, fourteen acclaimed photobooks, and international exhibitions at venues like Hayward Gallery London and Kiran Nadar Museum of Art.
4. Pushpamala N.
Pushpamala N. (b. 1956, Bangalore) is recognized as a pioneer of conceptual and performative photography in India. Originally trained as a sculptor, she uses the camera to create elaborate tableaux, often inserting herself as the protagonist to reinterpret history, popular culture, and stereotypes through a feminist, postcolonial lens.
Her witty, self-reflexive work interrogates the notion of authenticity and “truth” in photography, making her one of India’s most influential contemporary artist-photographers.
Major Works: The Native Women of South India – Manners and Customs: A photo-performance exploring representation and identity; Phantom Lady, The Return of the Phantom Lady: Revisiting adventure stories and film noir through self-portraiture and performance; Mother India Project: Masquerades that critique and parody Indian nationalist iconography
5. Gauri Gill
Gauri Gill (b. 1970, Chandigarh) is celebrated for her immersive, long-term, and collaborative practice that interrogates issues of identity, marginalization, and resilience, particularly among rural and indigenous communities in India. Her projects use photography as a means of storytelling, memory, and even visual anthropology. Gill’s works go beyond documentary, often integrating installation, drawing, and collaborative interventions with local artisans and subjects.
Major Works: Notes from the Desert: An ongoing archive since 1999, developed over decades with communities in rural Rajasthan, including series like Balika Mela and The Mark on the Wall; Fields of Sight: A collaboration with Warli tribal artist Rajesh Vangad, blending Gill’s images with traditional drawing; Acts of Appearance: Created with Kokna and Warli mask-makers, merging village life and performative masquerade.
6. Cop Shiva
Cop Shiva, born Shivaraju BS, is a remarkable Indian artist. His photography focuses on documenting the complexity of rural and urban India, particularly through portraiture that captures the stories of migrants, street performers, and marginalized communities.
Major works include the ongoing series “Being Gandhi,” which portrays a rural schoolteacher who impersonates Gandhi to promote his ideals, and “Street as a Studio,” featuring migrants against urban murals.
7. Ram Rahman
Ram Rahman is a distinguished Indian photographer, curator, artist, and activist known for his documentary-style black and white photography that captures India’s evolving social, political, and architectural landscapes.
His major works include: “Mother and Child” (1983), which poignantly captures maternal love amidst poverty, and “Ernakulam” (1987), a portrait blending street life with cinematic imagery. Rahman documented modernist Indian architecture with a semiotic approach, exploring spaces like the “Hall of Nations, Pragati Maidan” (2017) and “Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi” (1999).
8. Danish Siddiqui
Profile: Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters photojournalist (1983–2021), Siddiqui covered critical events from the Rohingya crisis and Nepal earthquake to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Afghan conflict, where he died in the line of duty.
Major Works: Pulitzer-winning documentation of Rohingya refugees (2018) and India’s COVID-19 crisis (2022, posthumous). Photojournalism from Afghanistan, Delhi riots, and more.
9. Ketaki Sheth
Born in 1957 in Bombay (Mumbai), Ketaki Sheth is a celebrated Indian photographer known for her black-and-white documentary style, capturing urban life and labor over four decades. Initially a committed analogue photographer, she transitioned to color photography later, exploring themes like fading photo studios in India. Her work spans street photography, portraiture, and cultural documentation.
Major Works: Photo Studio (2018) documenting India’s photo studios; A Certain Grace: The Sidi, Africans of Indian Descent (2013); Bombay Mix (2007); Twinspotting (1999). Exhibited at prestigious museums including Tate Modern (London), MoMA and Met Museum (New York), NGMA (India), and Harvard Art Museums. Her photography captures social realities with a contemporary and empathetic lens.
10. Sunil Gupta
Sunil Gupta is an award-winning photographer whose work explores LGBTQ+ identities, migration, and postcolonial experience. An academic and activist, he combines personal narrative with social critique through powerful imagery.
Major Works: Exiles, Sexuality, and The New Pre-Raphaelites series critically engage with queer identity and cultural boundaries. His photos have been exhibited worldwide, including at Tate Modern (London), Brooklyn Museum (New York), and Victoria and Albert Museum (London).
11. Poulomi Basu
A documentary photographer and activist, Basu’s bold work navigates issues of gender violence and social justice. She combines traditional photojournalism with VR, installation, and immersive media.
Major Works: Blood Speaks, advocacy campaigns for women’s rights and awareness on taboo issues like menstruation and domestic violence.
These 11 photographers exemplify the creativity, diversity, and socio-cultural engagement at the heart of Indian photography.
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