Nishant Shukla   ---   Index
is a photographer and visual artist based in London.

Nishant has a deep interest in the photobook as a medium. He co-founded BIND (2015-2020) -  a platform for photography and a library, examining the photobook as an art object. He received The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts: Photobook grant (2016) which enabled the publication of his first book. Seeking Moksha (2017) explores the search for transcendence through a collection of photographs, written notes, found objects and sound that memorialise his own experience.

Nishant’s photography is guided by a documentary approach, where he makes portrait, still life and landscape studies, abstracting the tangible to present a quiet ambiguity. The act of seeking is a central motif in his work, which engages with the struggle for purpose and meaning. By presenting his own personal journey, Nishant invites the viewer to contemplate their own path.

His reflective and sensitive eye has been commissioned internationally lending his perspective to editorial and commercial clients. Selected editorial clients include Architectural Digest, GQ, Monocle, NYMagazine, Vogue, Wallpaper, The Financial Times, The New York Times, The Sunday Times Magazine and The Telegraph. Selected commercial clients include 11.11, Bhane, Bungalow8, Eka, Indigo Airlines, Itoh, Raw Mango, Roker Atelier and Tiipoi.

If you would like to collaborate, commission, chat or work together, feel free to reach out >>

hello@nishantshukla.com
Instagram ︎︎︎ 

71-75 Shelton Street
London WC2H 9JQ
Education
2008-2010  PG Dip in Photography, University of West London, London, UK
2005-2008  BA (Hons) Photography & Digital Imaging , Thames Valley University, London, UK

Awards / Nominations
2016  Winner Alkazi Photobook Grant ︎︎︎
2016  Shortlisted Fotobookfestival Kassel Dummy Award / Steidl Asia Open Call / Unseen Dummy Award ︎︎︎
2008  Vice Chancellors Award for MA Photography, Thames Valley University, London

Published Photobook
2017  Seeking Moksha, published and enabled by the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts: Photography Grant 2016          
88 Pages, 3 inserts, offset Printing, section sewn binding with screen printed hardcover ︎︎︎


Curatorial Project
2015-2020  Co-Founded BIND, a platform for photography and a library, examining the photobook as an art object, Mumbai, India ︎︎︎

Art Fairs
2017  India Art Fair, Seeking Moksha, Art Heritage Gallery, New Delhi, India
2013  United Art Fair, Brief Encounters, New Delhi, India

Selected Exhibitions
2018  Tissuer D’Image, Seeking Moksha, Beaucouze, France
2017  Centro Fotografico Cagliari, Seeking Moksha, Cagliari, Italy
2017  DocFiled Barca, Brief Encounters, Barcelona, Spain
2017  Format International Festival, Seeking Moksha, Derby, UK 
2016  TIFA, Ravers & the Aftermath, Pune, India
2016  Alkazi Grants Preview, Seeking Moksha, Art Heritage Gallery, New Delhi, India
2016  Fotobookfestival, Seeking Moksha, Kassel, Germany
2016  Steild Bookshow, Seeking Moksha, The Deck, Singapore
2016  Zones of Privacy, Seeking Moksha, Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai, India
2016  Travel Photo Jaipur, Brief Encounters Installation, Jaipur Railway Station, India
2016  Tasveer Journal, Seeking Moksha, Tasveer Gallery, Bangalore, India
2015  GoaPhoto 2015, Ravers & the Aftermath, Blindboys Collateral Exhibition at Casa Xetio, Panjim, Goa, India
2009  Freshfacedandwildeyed09, Brief Encounters, The Photographers’ Gallery, London

Selected Publications
2018  Photography in India : A Visual History from the 1850’s to the Present / Nathanial Gaskell, Diva Gujral, Published by Prestel ︎︎︎
2018  Foam Magazine #50, Water Issue, Interview by Aveek Sen ︎︎︎
2017  Vice Annual Photo Issue, US & UK ︎︎︎
2017  British Journal of Photography #7857, Habitat ︎︎︎
Art Residency
2019 Open 19, Live Art & Performance Residency, HH Art Spaces, Goa, India ︎︎︎

Selected Talks
2018  BIND & the photobook in India, Fotobookfestival, Kassel, Germany ︎︎︎
2017   Platform, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland ︎︎︎
2015  The journey of the photobook, in conversation with Dragana Jurisic & Sohrab Hura, Photokathmandu, Nepal ︎︎︎
2014  New Ethnographies: Contemporary Conventions of the Image, PIX, Max Muellar Bhavan, Mumbai, India ︎︎︎

Teaching
2017-18  Visiting Lecturer on History of Imaging, MA Photography Design, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India ︎︎︎
2015-16  Lecturer, Photography Diploma, Shri Aurobindo College of Arts & Communication, New Delhi, India ︎︎︎
2013-14  Lecturer, Photography and Print Production, Sophia’s College, Mumbai, India ︎︎︎

Participatory Projects
2011   Head Facilitator, Akanksha Foundation, 6 week workshop, Mumbai, India ︎︎︎
2010  Project Lead, Facilitator & Curator, Cassel Hospital, 6 week workshop & exhibition, Richmond, UK ︎︎︎
2008-2009  Project Leader, Widening Participation Programme, Thames Valley University, London, UK

Selected Press
Art Tribune ︎︎︎
Art Zealous ︎︎︎
Foam ︎︎︎
Fotoroom  ︎︎︎
Ignant ︎︎︎
Itsnicethat ︎︎︎
Pagina99 ︎︎︎
Photocaptionist ︎︎︎ 
Vice ︎︎︎