Saadiya Kochar is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

and

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

ler. Her works can be broadly classified into art and social documentary photography, although she dabbles into portraiture, street and fashion as well.

Early years and education

Saadiya was born into a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

family. Her birthplace is

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

, Jammu and Kashmir. Kochar's education was from a missionary school, Convent of Jesus and Mary in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

but she never went to a regular college. Having studied

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

, from Sri Aurobindo Institute of Mass communication she went on to study at

Triveni Kala Sangam Triveni Kala Sangam is an important cultural and arts complex and education centre in New Delhi. Founded in 1950, by Sundari K. Shridharani, who was also its Founding Director, Triveni, as it is commonly referred, contains four art galleries, a ...

, under world renowned artist O. P. Sharma, a photographer famous for black and white images. She got a diploma in photography from ICPP,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Career

When she was 24, this Indian photographer published her first book, ''Being....''. Kochar, has worked in

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

for over a decade, has taught photography at the

Pearl Academy of Fashion Pearl Academy (formerly Pearl Academy of Fashion) is an India, Indian higher education institution. As of 2019 it has been owned by the for-profit education group Global University Systems. History Pearl Academy of Fashion was set up in 1993 ...

and is the creative head of astudio, in Delhi. In 2012, she organised a solo show, in New Delhi, of her images from Kashmir, titled ''Loss''. Saadiya has shown her photographs through a few solo shows, earlier as well, titled- Being...( thoughts, emotions and self-discovery displayed through the body), Zikr-the remembrance (Sufi practices) has been a part of a number of group shows, in India as well as abroad. Saadiya Kochar]
Being

A book on the human form was released in 2004. Kochar has worked on a short video art project called

', about the troubles faced by

Kashmiri Muslims Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir. Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has bo ...

and the

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...

s. She continues to travel and work in Kashmir. In 2013, she began a blog about her personal journey as a single, female photographer, navigating through the city, archiving her experiences of loss and longing, through photographs and writing
A 100 pieces of me-project
In 2017, she travelled through India by herself, covering the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Corridors. The project Road Tripping-Photowalli Gaadee is a pan India project that made its debut at the India Art Fair in a group show and at Cafe De Art in a solo one.

References

External links

Official website
*Sneha Bhurra,

The Week, Feb 22, 2020 *Swati Kumari,

, Mid-day.com, 24 February 2009. *Shalini Singh,
Conflict camera
, ''Hindustan Times'', 29 May 2010. * Road Tripping- Photowalli Gaadee
Human Touch
* A 100 Pieces Of M
A 100 pieces of me-project
* Indian Expres
Show Stealers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kochar, Saadiya Living people Indian women photographers Indian photographers 21st-century women photographers Photographers from Delhi Artists from Jammu and Kashmir Social documentary photographers 1979 births 21st-century Indian photographers Photographers from Jammu and Kashmir Women photojournalists