A well recognised photographer with a practice in India and overseas, Samar has been commissioned by the likes of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, BBC World Service Trust and the United Nations. He is also deeply engaged with social issues and over the last 25 years has been using photography, film and public art projects to address various concerns such as community development and conservation.

His multimedia installation which documents the aftermath of the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 titled BHOPAL – A Silent Picture has travelled to many locations, notably the London Olympics, 2012. Among his other prominent projects is Phaneng is a portraiture project about the disappearing Tai Phake, a Burmese Buddhist tribe. This award-winning project was seen at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. and he continues to work with this endangered community in a variety of ways. Express/Aspire is a pro-bono project which incorporates photography workshops for underprivileged children in Asia and Africa.

Most recently, Samar has been a judge on Nat Geo Cover Shot, an ongoing award-winning reality TV show, mentoring professional photographers. In Dubai, he conceptualised the documenting of the building of Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai under the title of “History in the Making”. The six-year project included a number of films and exhibitions for Emaar, the Skyscraper Museum in New York City, Nat Geo and Discovery Channel.

Samar continues to work on advisory panels for corporates on CSR and publishing projects. He is a regular speaker on TEDx including speaking at TEDx Vienna on the artist’s role in sustainability and capacity building. Samar runs Spectra Maxima International, a corporate communications company based out of Dubai Media City.

Having worked for over 30 years in the area of design and communication, Gopika is the founder partner and principal designer at Gopika Chowfla Design (GCD Studio), which is counted among the leading graphic design studios in India. Her experience spans a vast variety of design projects with a specialization in brand development and visual identitities for companies, institutions as well as products. From spatial graphics, advertising design, brand insignias, packaging, information graphics, publication design, photography as well as design for the digital space, she has a deep understanding of design as a tool for communication and engagement.

Gopika has been frequently engaged with startups, investing her design insights and skills in building brands from inception - SpiceJet, Lemon Tree Hotels, Veeba Foods and EazyDiner are some. She along with the GCD Team also provide design support for cultural, social entrepreneurship and development projects like FarmVeda, Manan Books, YouthReach, Pratham among others.

Gopika has also been closely associated with photography and the photographic arts and has exhibited her lens based and other art installations at several prominent shows and festivals, including Ashtanayika, curated by Dr Alka Pande, Sensorium, Goa curated by Prashant Panjiar and Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa curated by Dinesh Khanna.

Amit Krishn Gulati is an award winning industrial designer, entrepreneur and design educator with a multifaceted oeuvre encompassing New Product Development, Healthcare, Branding, Space Design and Retail Experiences. Amit graduated from the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad in 1995 and is the co-founder of Incubis, one of India’s well-known architecture and design companies. Incubis works with a diverse mix of Indian and international clients.

Amit, and the team at Incubis, designed and helped execute the iconic 100 meter ‘Mudra’ installation that has become the celebrated symbol of the International Airport at New Delhi. Amit is actively engaged in creating design awareness and has served on the CII National Committee on Design for several years and is the Vice President-National Executive Council of the Association of Designers of India (ADI). Amit is passionate about mentoring entrepreneurs and working closely with start-ups. He is one of the founding investors at Barista, India’s pioneering espresso retailer,  Abisko, a solar solution venture and Eye-Q, a successful and fast-growing chain of affordable eye hospitals. 

In addition to leading the design team at Incubis, Amit teaches at The School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, Ambedkar University, Delhi and at his alma-mater, NID, Ahmedabad.

Mihir Misra got his architectural degree with a First Class from the School of Planning and Architecture in 1987.

He worked with a several well known firms, building up his experience on projects, and then joined Oberoi Hotels in 1995 and worked there for several years working on several landmark projects for them in Jaipur, Udaipur, Shimla, Mumbai and Chennai. He moved onto ITC Hotels and worked on multiple projects at ITC Maurya Sheraton, including ITC One at New Delhi and several other ITC Hotels projects in the country.

Mihir joined Emaar MGF as their nationwide Chief of Design in 2005 and worked with them for 7 years, leading projects in the verticals of residential development, commercial development, hotel development, retail development, SEZ development etc.  These projects ranged from stand-alone hotels to large -scale developments of upto 5000 acres.

He now works with the GMR Group as their Head of Design & Development Control for all their Airport Land Development, across all their airports around the globe.

Mihir has an innate interest in photography as a craft, and is a regular on the motorsport photography circuit, where he is very well known for his innate knowledge of both disciplines of motorsport as well as photography.

His passion for the craft of photography leads him to help all attempts at preserving it.

Parthiv is a photographer, filmmaker and a graphic designer. He has curated exhibitions and has several photo-books to his credit. An alumnus of the National Institute of Design. He has been awarded a senior fellowship in Photography by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Charles Wallace Fellowship, UK and Fulbright Lectureship award to teach photography at the UCLA, USA. He is the Founder-Director of Centre for Media and Alternative Communication (CMAC). He has been teaching photography and film as a visiting faculty at the National Institute of Design, Ambedkar University and Jamia Milia Islamia University in India.

Dinesh Khanna has been working as a Professional Photographer for 30 years with an eclectic blend of commercial and personal work. For advertising and corporate clients, he has been shooting food, people and interiors, and also CSR projects. Whereas his personal work has been published as acclaimed books like ‘Bazaar’ and ‘Living Faith.’ The latest books he has worked on are - “Right of the Line – The President’s Bodyguard” and “Life in Rashtrapati Bhawan’ which have been commissioned by the Rashtrapati Bhawan and Sahapedia. Over the years his work has also been shown in solo and group shows in galleries from Delhi to New York and Varanasi to San Francisco.

Dinesh is a Managing Trustee of Nazar Foundation, and one of the Co-founders of the Delhi Photo Festival and also one of the Photography Curators for the first 2 editions of the Serendipity Arts Festival. He has also taught Photography in various institutions, conducts workshops and is a Visual Consultant with Sahapedia. He is now one of the Directors of Museo Camera’s Dhrish Academy for Photography & Visual Studies.

SOULMEDIA is an integrated, boutique communications agency. Since 2003 the agency has provided expertise to a roster of clients across Consumer & Retail, Development, Education, F&B, Healthcare, Hospitality, Luxury, Media & Advertising, Technology and Travel & Tourism, sectors.

Managed by Anuradha Kapoor and Meenakshi Sachdev Varma, who between them bring over 5 decades of experience in media and PR, offering counsel to clients, along with access to resources that have specialised knowledge across sectors.

With 18 years of corporate experience at Citibank behind her, Latika Thukral is one of the three co-founders of I Am Gurgaon (IAG), an NGO credited with initiatives that aim to contribute positively to every aspect of city living in Gurgaon. One of the landmark achievements of I Am Gurgaon is to have worked towards catalyzing Raahgiri, a citizen led movement that works to promote environment friendly transport practices and help cut down pollution and congestion.

IAG has been working towards creating a 350 acre biodiversity park from a derelict mining site. A recreational space and home to several indigenous flora and fauna, the Aravalli Biodiversity Park has become an urban landmark and and and a model for urban forestry.

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Recently, IAG under her leadership completed the first phase of the eco-restoration of a bundh, a traditional water management structure.  It has now become a walkway for citizen and biodiversity hotspot.

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Latika has been awarded The L’Oréal Femina Woman of Substance award for Environment in 2014 and an appreciation award by the Haryana State Government in 2010. Nari shakti award in 2015 by President of India.

Over 32 years in the corporate sector, Noni Chawla's experience spans a diversity of industries in the areas of hospitality & tourism, manufacturing, healthcare, International trade and management consulting and has in-depth experience in setting up new businesses including hotels, healthcare and consulting. He spent over 20 years at ITC Limited in its Hotels business, was the founder CEO of Max Healthcare and Country Manager at Korn/Ferry International, the world’s largest executive search firm and his functional experience spans managing international joint venture partners, marketing, business development, corporate planning, strategy formulation and implementation.

Noni Chawla’s consulting assignments have been for public and non-profit organisations including UNICEF, The World Bank and The African Development Bank and has also been a member of the National Tourism Council of the Government of India, all adding to his extensive experience working across countries and cultures.

He has also been a visiting faculty member at several business schools in India including the IIMs and Indian Business School, Hyderabad, a regular contributor to business and travel publications and a speaker at management forums.

Noni has now turned his attention to being a part time teacher and management advisor, in addition to taking a more serious interest in adventure travel, photography, fishing and reading.