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“Photography gives us the feeling that we can hold the whole world in our hands — an anthology of images. People are always anxious to see other people’s faces. Man is a curious animal and photography helps him to satiate his curiosity.”

T.S. Satyan uses the camera obscura to tell a story as it is. Making no attempt to create illusions or intrigue the viewer, his shots are direct and to the point – an imperative quality for a...
“Photography gives us the feeling that we can hold the whole world in our hands — an anthology of images. People are always anxious to see other people’s faces. Man is a curious animal and photography helps him to satiate his curiosity.”

T.S. Satyan uses the camera obscura to tell a story as it is. Making no attempt to create illusions or intrigue the viewer, his shots are direct and to the point – an imperative quality for a photojournalist. Satyan’s forte lies in his accuracy in capturing the real. The Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet in 1959 is one of Satyan’s most prominent assignments, which he covered for the news magazine Life.

In 1979, to mark the international year of the child, UNICEF sponsored a show of Satyan’s works, titled ‘Little People’, which was held at the United Nations Assembly Hall Annex in New York. Since then, Satyan has participated in numerous shows in India and abroad.

T.S. Satyan was born in Mysore in 1928. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Mysore Maharaja College. Satyan took his first photographs in high school, and his love of the medium and perseverance in the field led him to becoming one of India’s earliest and most well known photojournalists. Satyan’s images have appeared in several publications including Life, the Deccan Herald and the Illustrated Weekly of India. His published books include Exploring Karnataka, Hampi—the Fabled Capital of the Vijaynagar Empire, In Love with Life, Kalakke Kannada, his memoirs penned in his native tongue, Kannada, and Alive and Clicking. Awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India, Satyan was also conferred an honorary Doctor of Literature degree by the University of Mysore.

“The camera has helped bridge distances and has enabled us to capture the world’s spectacular landscapes. Without the use of words, photography has unified human history in concentric circles, the family snapshot, the community wedding, the news event, the journey to Mars, all events in a single day — are visually available to millions of people,” says the artist, explaining his passion for the art form.

He passed away on December 18, 2009

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