An eminent commercial and travel photographer, Aditya Arya began professional photography in 1980 after graduating in History from the St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University. After a brief stint in the Mumbai Film Industry where he did stills for some of the leading directors, he moved back to Delhi. In addition to his wide-ranging Commercial and Travel portfolio, his work has been published widely in books and travel magazines around the world. He is known for his expertise in the field of advertising and corporate photography, specializing in Products, Interiors and Food.
Over the last decade, he has been completely immersed in the subject and practice of photographic conservation. He has honed his skills and knowledge on preservation, restoration and archiving particularly through the documentation of historic photographic works from the famous Kulwant Roy Collection of the pre and post Independence era. He has played a pivotal role in the establishment of India Photo Archive Foundation and the Neel Dongre Awards/Grants for Excellence in Photography.
At present, while also actively pursuing his professional advertising and commercial assignments, he divides his time between his photography archive and Museo Camera - the only Photography and Camera Museum in India. With more than 3000 rare and iconic cameras and other equipment, this museum traces the history of photography from the 1870s to the Digital Era.
Today in the fast-paced world of megapixels he is also immersing himself in the slowness of analog processes and, at the same time, slowing down many born-digital photographers and artists by mentoring them.
Aditya has also turned alchemist and artist, practicing and teaching the art of vintage photographic processes such as salt prints, egg albumen prints, gum bichromate and wet plate photography.
He has been on the Jury of the National Art Exhibition 2014 organized by Lalit Kala Akademi and many other national shows.
After completing her graduation from St. Stephens College, Sujata Mehra went on to study law at Delhi University’s Faculty of Law. She has been a practising civil lawyer since 1983. She has worked on a wide gamut of subjects ranging from women’s issues, real estate, contractual law, labour laws, arbitrations and consumer laws.
Apart from her professional work, Sujata has also been involved with other organizations on social and legal issues. For example, she worked with Marg (Multiple Action Research Group) on legal manuals for law advocacy on laws pertaining to women and with CCC (Consumer Coordination Council) on consumer laws for advocacy of consumer awareness. She was the legal Consultant for a TV show called 'Aap Ki Kacheri' which sought to spread legal awareness in the country. Sujata has also been the chairperson of sexual harassment committees of MNC’s.
Recently Sujata has authored a book called ‘Existential Dance’ which deals with existential issues and her search for truth.
Sujata Mehra has been a trustee of the India Photo Archive Foundation since its inception in 2009.
A well recognised photographer with a practice in India and overseas, Samar has been commissioned by the likes of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BBC World Service Trust and the United Nations. He is also deeply engaged with social issues and over the last 25 years has been using photography, film and public art projects to address various concerns such as community development and conservation.
His multimedia installation which documents the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 titled BHOPAL – A Silent Picture has travelled to many locations, notably the London Olympics, 2012. Among his other prominent projects is Phaneng is a portraiture project about the disappearing Tai Phake, a Burmese Buddhist tribe. This award-winning project was seen at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. and he continues to work with this endangered community in a variety of ways. Express/Aspire is a pro-bono project which incorporates photography workshops for underprivileged children in Asia and Africa.
Most recently, Samar has been a judge on Nat Geo Cover Shot, an ongoing award-winning reality TV show, mentoring professional photographers. In Dubai, he conceptualised the documenting of the building of Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai under the title of “History in the Making”. The six-year project included a number of films and exhibitions for Emaar, the Skyscraper Museum in New York City, Nat Geo and Discovery Channel.
Samar continues to work on advisory panels for corporates on CSR and publishing projects. He is a regular speaker on TEDx including speaking at TEDx Vienna on the artist’s role in sustainability and capacity building. Samar runs Spectra Maxima International, a corporate communications company based out of Dubai Media City.
Having worked for over 30 years in the area of design and communication, Gopika is the founder partner and principal designer at Gopika Chowfla Design (GCD Studio), which is counted among the leading graphic design studios in India. Her experience spans a vast variety of design projects with a specialization in brand development and visual identities for companies, institutions, and products. From spatial graphics, advertising design, brand insignias, packaging, information graphics, publication design, photography, and digital space design, she deeply understands design as a tool for communication and engagement.
Gopika has been frequently engaged with startups, investing her design insights and skills in building brands from inception - SpiceJet, Lemon Tree Hotels, Veeba Foods, and EazyDiner are some. She and the GCD Team also provide design support for cultural, social entrepreneurship, and development projects like FarmVeda, Manan Books, YouthReach, and Pratham.
Gopika has also been closely associated with photography and the photographic arts and has exhibited her lens-based and other art installations at several prominent shows and festivals, including Ashtanayika, curated by Dr Alka Pande, Sensorium, Goa curated by Prashant Panjiar and Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa curated by Dinesh Khanna.
Amit Krishn Gulati is an award winning industrial designer, entrepreneur and design educator with a multifaceted oeuvre encompassing New Product Development, Healthcare, Branding, Space Design and Retail Experiences. Amit graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad in 1995 and is the co-founder of Incubis, one of India’s well-known architecture and design companies. Incubis works with a diverse mix of Indian and international clients.
Amit, and the team at Incubis, designed and helped execute the iconic 100 meter ‘Mudra’ installation that has become the celebrated symbol of the International Airport at New Delhi. Amit is actively engaged in creating design awareness and has served on the CII National Committee on Design for several years and is the Vice President-National Executive Council of the Association of Designers of India (ADI). Amit is passionate about mentoring entrepreneurs and working closely with start-ups. He is one of the founding investors at Barista, India’s pioneering espresso retailer, Abisko, a solar solution venture and Eye-Q, a successful and fast-growing chain of affordable eye hospitals.
In addition to leading the design team at Incubis, Amit teaches at The School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, Ambedkar University, Delhi and at his alma-mater, NID, Ahmedabad.
Mihir Misra got his architectural degree with a First Class from the School of Planning and Architecture in 1987.
He worked with a several well known firms, building up his experience on projects, and then joined Oberoi Hotels in 1995 and worked there for several years working on several landmark projects for them in Jaipur, Udaipur, Shimla, Mumbai and Chennai. He moved onto ITC Hotels and worked on multiple projects at ITC Maurya Sheraton, including ITC One at New Delhi and several other ITC Hotels projects in the country.
Mihir joined Emaar MGF as their nationwide Chief of Design in 2005 and worked with them for 7 years, leading projects in the verticals of residential development, commercial development, hotel development, retail development, SEZ development etc. These projects ranged from stand-alone hotels to large -scale developments of upto 5000 acres.
He now works with the GMR Group as their Head of Design & Development Control for all their Airport Land Development, across all their airports around the globe.
Mihir has an innate interest in photography as a craft, and is a regular on the motorsport photography circuit, where he is very well known for his innate knowledge of both disciplines of motorsport as well as photography.
His passion for the craft of photography leads him to help all attempts at preserving it.
Dinesh Khanna has been working as a Professional Photographer for 30 years with an eclectic blend of commercial and personal work. For advertising and corporate clients, he has been shooting food, people and interiors, and also CSR projects. Whereas his personal work has been published as acclaimed books like ‘Bazaar’ and ‘Living Faith.’ The latest books he has worked on are - “Right of the Line – The President’s Bodyguard” and “Life in Rashtrapati Bhawan’ which have been commissioned by the Rashtrapati Bhawan and Sahapedia. Over the years his work has also been shown in solo and group shows in galleries from Delhi to New York and Varanasi to San Francisco.
Dinesh is a Managing Trustee of Nazar Foundation, and one of the Co-founders of the Delhi Photo Festival and also one of the Photography Curators for the first 2 editions of the Serendipity Arts Festival. He has also taught Photography in various institutions, conducts workshops and is a Visual Consultant with Sahapedia. He is now one of the Directors of Museo Camera’s Dhrish Academy for Photography & Visual Studies.
