Rathika Ramasamy is an Indian

wildlife photographer Wildlife photography is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat. As well as requiring photography skills, wildlife photographers may need field craft skills. For example, some anim ...

. She is based in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

and operates as a freelance photographer. She has received many accolades for her photographs and has been called the "first Indian woman to strike an international reputation as a wildlife photographer".

Biography

Rathika has lived in New Delhi since 1999, after her marriage. She has a degree in computer engineering and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

, and worked as a software engineering for several years before becoming a full-time photographer. Rathika received her first camera from her uncle, an amateur photographer himself, and began shooting pictures of trees and flowers. In 2003 she visited the

Keoladeo National Park Keoladeo National Park, or Keoladeo Ghana National Park, is a national park in Rajasthan, India. The national park hosts thousands of native, resident and migratory birds, especially during the winter season, when many different species fly to t ...

in Bharatpur and took pictures of birds. She began visiting the

Okhla Bird Sanctuary Okhla Bird Sanctuary is a bird sanctuary at the Okhla barrage over Yamuna River. It is situated in Noida, Gautam Buddh Nagar district, on Delhi-Uttar Pradesh state border and known as a haven for over 300 bird species, especially waterbirds. ...

regularly, studying the behaviour of various types of birds. Thereafter, she took to wildlife photography as her professional interest and visited many national parks in India, Kenya, and Tanzania. Her wildlife photography was featured at the "Clean Ganga Campaign" held in September 2005 at the

India International Centre The India International Centre (IIC) is a non-official organisation situated in New Delhi, India. Membership of the IIC includes artists, academicians, senior government officials, judges, jurists, parliamentarians, doctors, ministers, governors ...

, New Delhi. In 2007, the

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

's annual calendar featured her bird photographs. The "Birds of India" chose her as one of the Top 20 best photographers of India in 2008, the only woman to receive the distinction. Besides participating in wildlife exhibitions, she conducts workshops on wildlife photography. Rathika is among the founding members of the Photography Arts Association of India.

Works

Rathika self-published her first book, ''The Best of Wildlife Moments'', in 2014.

Awards

*2015: Inspiring Icon Award,

Sathyabama University Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology (SIST), formerly known as Sathyabama Engineering College and Sathyabama University, is a private, STEM-intensive, multi-disciplinary, multi-campus deemed university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. ...

*2015: International Camera Fair (ICF) award, for her excellence in wildlife photography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramasamy, Rathika Living people Indian wildlife photographers People from Theni district Women artists from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian photographers 21st-century Indian photographers Indian women environmentalists Year of birth missing (living people) Photographers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian women photographers 21st-century Indian women photographers

Biography

Works

Awards

See also

References