As ecological crises increasingly shape the lived realities of South Asia, a growing number of artists are turning their lenses toward environmental change, while also questioning the histories, politics, and human relationships that both drive and are transformed by ecological upheaval. Working across photography, sculpture, installation, video and research-led practices, Mrugen Rathod, Sharbendu De, and Subhajit Naskar approach ecology from markedly different vantage points. Their work moves between contested landscapes, communities, disaster zones and intimate encounters, examining how environmental damage is entangled with displacement, cultural memory, survival and questions of belonging. Together, their practices expand the possibilities of lens-based art, using the camera and its adjacent forms not merely as instruments of observation, but as ways to interrogate the complex ecological realities of the present.
Mrugen Rathod (b. 1982, Ahmedabad) is a Vadodara-based multidisciplinary artist whose research-driven practice engages with social, political, cultural and ecological concerns. Working across sculpture, drawing, installation, photography and video, Rathod examines the changing relationship between communities and their environments, particularly the ecological histories and conflicts embedded within specific landscapes. His practice operates through two interconnected approaches: New Archives, a minimalist investigation of history and material memory, and interactive, site-specific projects that employ locally found, natural, organic and biodegradable materials. Follow @mrugen.rathod on Instagram.
Sharbendu De (b. 1978, India) is a contemporary lens-based artist, academic and writer based in New Delhi whose practice explores ecology, human survival, displacement and cultural memory. A former photojournalist, De has worked across seven natural disasters and travelled extensively through South Asia, documenting environmental conservation, human rights, gender and indigenous communities. His conceptual series Imagined Homeland examines the Lisu community of Arunachal Pradesh, while An Elegy for Ecology reflects on climate change and the Anthropocene. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Rencontres d’Arles, Guangdong Times Museum, the Asian Art Biennale and Photoville, and is held in private collections. De was a 2022 Visiting Artist Fellow at Harvard University and has received grants from the India Foundation for the Arts, Lucie Foundation, Prince Claus Fund & ASEF, MurthyNAYAK Foundation and KHOJ. He holds an MA in Photojournalism from the University of Westminster and has taught photography and visual communication at institutions including Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University. Follow @de.sharbendu on Instagram.
Subhajit Naskar (b. 1992) is a Kolkata-based lens-based visual artist whose practice explores human emotion, politics, and lived experience through photography. A graduate of Pharmaceutical Technology from Jadavpur University, Naskar moved from the pharmaceutical corporate sector to photography, eventually working as a staff photographer for a Bengali newspaper. His work has been published by VICE Media, The Quint, The Citizen, Himal Southasian, and Gaon Connection. His practice also engages with climate change and ecological concerns; he is part of the Decoding Anthropocene: Tackling Climate Crisis mentorship programme and received an Earth Journalism Network fellowship in 2025. His work has been exhibited and screened internationally, including at Angkor Photo Festival, Festival de Fotografia de Paranapiacaba, and LensCulture’s Street Photography Awards. Naskar was a finalist for the Toto Photography Awards and nominated for the 11th Prix Pictet. Follow @subha_ju_ph on Instagram.
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