Kishor Parekh (1930-1982) was an Indian photojournalist. He was born in Bhavnagar,

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, and studied filmmaking and documentary photography at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. His work as a student won him numerous awards. He returned to India from 1960 to 1961 and became the chief photographer of the ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

''. In this capacity, he covered the

Sino-Indian war of 1962 The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tib ...

and the 1965 conflict between

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He was awarded a gold medal by ''Soviet Land'' for his coverage of the Tashkent summit that marked the conclusion of the war. He covered the 1966-1967 famine in Bihar and his photographs on this subject were exhibited in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He also shot

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

until the latter's death in 1964. After six years at the ''Hindustan Times'', Parekh joined the ''Asia Magazine'' in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1967. He travelled throughout the

Asia Pacific Asia-Pacific (APAC) is the part of the world near the western Pacific Ocean. The Asia-Pacific region varies in area depending on context, but it generally includes East Asia, Russian Far East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Pacific Isla ...

region on assignment. Later on, he became photo editor of Pacific Magazines Ltd, a position he held till about 1972. Afterwards, he returned to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Parekh is best known for his work on the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. His book on the subject, ''Bangladesh: A Brutal Birth'', was a covered the atrocities committed by the Pakistani forces and the suffering of the native Bengali population. According to photographer Pablo Bartholomew: '"Bangladesh was Kishor’s highest point. Self-assigned, self-funded, driven by his own instincts, emotions and guts, in a two-week period he produced a startling set of images that became a powerful book and statement.".Profile in WPP website
/ref> The Indian government commissioned 20,000 copies of the book to raise awareness of the war. Parekh's work appeared in numerous national and international publications including ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', ''

Paris Match ''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. History and profile A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigeant ...

'', '' Sunday Times'', ''Time'' magazine, ''

Stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

'', ''

Popular Photography ''Popular Photography'', formerly known as ''Popular Photography & Imaging'', also called ''Pop Photo'', is a monthly American consumer website and former magazine that at one time had the largest circulation of any imaging magazine, with an edit ...

'' and ''Asahi Graphic''. He died of a heart attack in 1982 while on assignment in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

. Upon his death, his 16-year-old son Swapan Parekh became a photographer. Kishor was married to Saroj Parekh.

External links

Kishore Parekh, a photogallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parekh, Kishor 20th-century Indian photographers Indian photojournalists People from Bhavnagar 1930 births 1982 deaths Indian male journalists Journalists from Gujarat 20th-century Indian journalists Photographers from Gujarat