Rathika Ramasamy is an Indian wildlife photographer. She is based in Chennai and operates as a freelance photographer.She has received accolades for her photographs and has been called the “first Indian woman to strike an international reputation as a wildlife photographer.
Biography
Rathika has lived in New Delhi since 1999, after her marriage. She has a degree in computer engineering and an MBA, and worked as a software engineering for several years before becoming a full-time photographer.
Rathika received her first camera from her uncle, an amateur photographer himself, and began shooting pictures of trees and flowers. In 2003 she visited the Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur and took pictures of birds. Her early work was not skillful, but nurtured her interest in bird behaviour and photography. She began visiting the Okhla Bird Sanctuary regularly, studying the behaviour of various types of birds. Thereafter, she took to wildlife photography as her professional interest and visited many national parks in India, Kenya, and Tanzania.
Her wildlife photography was featured at the “Clean Ganga Campaign” held in September 2005 at the India International Center, New Delhi. In 2007, the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s annual calendar featured her bird photographs. The “Birds of India” chose her as one of the Top 20 best photographers of India in 2008, the only woman to receive the distinction. Besides participating in wildlife exhibitions, she conducts workshops on wildlife photography.
Rathika is among the founding members of the Photography Arts Association of India.
She clicks her pictures with the motto: Every time I press the shutter, it’s one step closer to Mother Nature.
Workshops
Rathika Ramasamy regularly conducts Wildlife Photography workshops and gives talk all over India. She conducted workshops and gave talks at many universities and college.
Few of her previous notable workshop are
1. “The art of bird Photography talk “Photographic Society of Madras, Chennai, April 2010
2. Wildlife Photography workshop, Apogee, BITS, Pilani, Rajasthan March, 2011
3. Wildlife Photography workshop, Kurukshetra, Anna University, Feb, 2011
4. Wildlife Photography workshop, Assam Nature Society, Guwahati, July, 2011
5. Wildlife Photography workshop, Bangalore Aug, 2011
6. Wildlife Photography workshop, Kochi, Kerala Aug, 2011
7. Wildlife Photography workshop, Acharya Narendra Dev College, New Delhi, October, 2011
8. Wildlife Conservation through Photography” talk -“Birds of Orissa” Bhubaneswar, Feb 2012
9. Wildlife photography workshop , Thrissur, Kerala, August 2013
10. Wildlife photography workshop , Amirta university, Coimbatore,March 2014
11. Wildlife photography workshop, Coimbatore,March, 2014
12. Wildlife photography workshop, Mumbai, March, 2014
13. Wildlife photography workshop, Hyderabad university, Hyderabad September,2014
14. Wildlife photography talk, webinar for Adobe virtual series, NewDelhi, October 2014
15. Wildlife photography workshop, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh , Assam, November, 2014
16. ‘Art of Bird Photography’ Delhi BirdRace, New Delhi, December, 2014
17. Master Class Workshop, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, December 2015
18. Wildlife photography workshop ,Shillong international photo festival.
19. “Youth4clicks” contest workshop at Kaziranga National Park,Assam by Saevus magazine, Feb 2018
20. School of Media technology and communication, Vel Tech Deemed University, Chennai
21. Wildlife Photography workshop Photographic Society of Madras(PSM), Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary, December 2017
22. Wildlife Photography workshop –IIT Madras, Chennai, April 2018
23. Power your clicks workshop by Nikon India Pvt ltd, July, 2018
24. The National Academy of Direct Taxes(NADT),Nagpur, Dec 2018
25. Wildlife photography workshop by Vandalur Zoo – Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, Chennai(AAZP), Dec 2018
26. Odisha Wildlife Photography Trail in association with Odisha Tourism and Times of India , Feb 2019
27. Basic Wildlife Photography Workshop,Department of Atomic Energy,Sports and Cultural Council, DAE Cultural Centre, Anushakti Nagar, Mumbai
Participated Exhibition
Her work has been appreciated and featured in several exhibitions. Few notable are
1. In September 2005, she participated in the “Clean Ganga Campaign” , India International Center, New Delhi.
2. A tribute to the top Indian bird photographers-Bird of India, Kolkata, September, 2008
3. Photographic Society of Madras,Salon, Chennai, 2009
4. Festival of owls Festival, Italy, April 2014
5. Uyir Nizhal Exhibition-Coimbatore , Year2010, 2013
6. Brahmaputra Nature Society exhibition ,Guwahati, Assam
7. Odisha Wildlife Lounge- ‘Mangalajodi’ exhibition Bhubaneswar, Odisha Year Feb 2013
8. International Photography exhibition, Julana, Jind, Haryana January 2014
9. National Wildlife Photography Exhibition “Click Your Pic”, Coimbatore Nov 2014
10. Shillong International photo festival, November 2015
Published Work
Rathika work has been published in several national and international publications. Few notable are
1. Treasures on Tiger Tracks- A bi-lingual nature guide to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve- By Jahnavi G Pai,T.Ganesh,R, Ganesan, M Soubadra Devy
2. Published “Birds of JNU” Jawaharlal Nehru University Calendar 2007
3. Helm Dictionary of Scientific bird names-by James A. Jobling
4. A Handbook to the Birds of Shangrila by Jodi Brandt & Ellen Bartee
5. Bird of India by Bikram Grewal
6. The best of Indian wildlife by Vijay Mane
7. Birds of Bharatpur article –Fotowide magazine -Oct 2009
8. Calendar JNU Year 2010,2012,2013
9. Corbett birds article “Fotowide” magazine Sept 2011
10. National Geographic Traveller India, August 2012
11. WWF wall calendar, Year 2012
12. The tiger trail – Travel and flavours magazine (April 2014)
13. Sciencemagazine.org(USA)
14. In February 2010, Rathika published her first photo book on “Bird photography”
15. In November 20, 2014 Rathika published her “The Best of Wildlife Moments”, a photo book of wildlife moments from her collection.
16. Sanctuary Asia-June-2016
17. Photo story Discover India”magazine , May 2016
18.Calender for Ranbaxy 2014
19.Calendar for IFFCO 2016
20. WWF for calendar 2017
21. Coffee Table Book “Moments from the wild”-The best of Indian wildlife photography- Published by Better Photography,2017 and 2018
Awards
-Feb 2015 Rathika has been conferred the “Inspiring Icon Award” from the prestigious Sathyabama University, Chennai.
– June 2015 She has been conferred the ICF( The International Camera Fair)award for the outstanding performance and achievements in wildlife photography.
-October 2018 She has been awarded “Inidhu environment award.
-Feb 2020 ,Rathika received the the Literary(புலமை ) category of Sakthi award from Puthiya Thalaimurai TV group, Chennai.
-Feb 2020, Rathika was conferred the “Women of Excellence “,Lens queen award from Karpaga Vinayaga College of Engineering Technology, Chengalpatt,Tamil Nadu.
-Feb 2020, Rathika received the Women of wonder-Realistic Awards 2020
-March 2020,“Women achiever 2K20” Award from Asan memorial institution group.
Some of her clicked pictures
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