Sudharak Olwe (born 19 March 1966) is a Mumbai-based

documentary photographer Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional ph ...

, whose work has been featured in national publications and exhibited in Mumbai, Delhi, Malmo (Sweden), Lisbon, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, Washington and Dhaka. He has drawn immense admiration and awe in the Indian subcontinent for revealing the naked reality of life’s tragicomic social theater. In 2005, he was one of the four awardees for the

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

's "All Roads Photography Program". He was awarded Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors for his social work in 2016.

Early Days

Mr. Suhdarak Olwe comes from

Akola Akola () is a major city in the Vidarbha region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The third largest city in Eastern Maharashtra after Nagpur and Amravati, it is located about east of the state capital, Mumbai, and west of the second ca ...

, a district in the state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. He has a Diploma in Photography from the Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art (1986), Mumbai and also a Diploma in Film and Video Production (1992) from

St. Xavier's College, Mumbai St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic Church, Catholic, institution of higher education run by the Bombay Province of the Society of Jesus in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by the Jesuits on 2 January 1869. The college is ...

. But he credits his success to experience rather than educational qualifications. He ran away from his home in Mumbai to Hyderabad for some time which taught him about street life which he depicts in his Pictures. Sudharak Olwe heads the Photography promotion Trust, which aims to spread the knowledge of photography in young adults not only in urban areas but in the rural side too.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olwe, Sudharak Living people Indian portrait photographers People from Akola district Documentary photographers Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work 20th-century Indian photographers Photographers from Maharashtra Indian photojournalists 1966 births