FEARLESS FRAMES LASTING LEGACY

Dr Latika Nath, The Tiger Princess of India, has been photographing stories for years now, blending art and advocacy.

- ANIRUDH IYER

Through photography, she's paving a way for the next generation of women to come ahead and break the glass ceiling. Her work has brought her several accolades, publishings & exhibitions. Today, she is a Nikon Creator & Ambassador for Leica. Asian Photography spoke to her about her upbringing, passion for photography & wildlife conservation, the barriers she has faced in her life & her career, storytelling and more. Excerpts:

What inspired you to become a photographer, and what was the journey like?

I grew up surrounded by a family that loved the outdoors and photography. National Geographic magazines were always around, and every vacation was carefully recorded. As a child, sitting and listening to friends of my parents who were photographers had me dreaming of a life as a wildlife photographer. I got my first camera when I was five years old, and would follow my father around and take photographs on vacations. Later as a scientist, photography became a tool for documenting animal behaviour, identification, monitoring and story telling for conservation of species, cultures and communities.

I was married to a wildlife photographer and spent over a decade being discouraged from doing any photography. My photography was perceived as a threat to his, and for over a decade, I hardly ever picked up a camera. After separating from him, I realised the decade that I had lost. Cameras moved from film to digital, lenses and technology had changed, and it wasn’t a gradual process, it was a quantum leap. Kodachrome and Fuji films were things of the past, with a few specialised photographers who would continue the craft.