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Dr. Hersh Chadha: Environmental Issues
Born in India in 1957, Dr. Hersh Chadha OPM (Harvard), ARPS, discovered he was happiest when alone, travelling with his camera and thoughts. To date he has visited 92 countries and 279 cities.
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He authored Elements and Elements I, II and III, a series of photographic books that capture nature in its various moods. The proceeds from the sales of these books go to the WWF. Elements can be found in the libraries of the hallowed centres of learning, Harvard and Stanford, where examples of his work also hang on the walls. His images are also in the possession of a number of eminent personalities – including several members of royalty. Hersh Chadha: Visions of Nature, a book that, as its title suggests, contains a selection of his images of nature, followed the Elements series. Next up was With Ink & Film, which takes the reader on a journey round the world and features thought-provoking quotations in addition to his fine imagery. In 2011, Dr. Chadha produced three new photographic books containing stunning examples of his art: Masterpiece, which highlights some 250 fascinating places he’s visited; Y.O.U., which celebrates the beauty of women; and Patterns, which examines the similarity between the patterns of nature and patterns of man. Dr. Chadha now features in the 2015 edition of the Limca Book of Records under the category, “Photo book of most cities by the same photographer”, for having launched a photo book titled Masterpiece, covering 235 cities. Also four of his books, Visions of Nature, Patterns, Masterpiece and With Ink & Film, are now available at the world’s largest library – The Library of Congress in Washington D.C., USA.
Dr. Hersh Chadha is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS), awarded for exhibiting a high degree of proficiency and demonstrating technical and visual competence in photography. He has also been actively involved with World Press Photo. He is a man of many facets. He resides in Dubai, in the UAE, where he runs a global network of business activities, and is an avid reader, keen economist and collector of objects d’art.
His uncompromising concern for the environment and the way man ravages it has made him focus on critical issues such as the preservation of wildlife, the protection of rain forests, the ozone layer and pollution. He has worked with a number of wildlife agencies concerned with conservation of Arabian wildlife – including The Arabian Leopard Trust and the Environmental Research and Wildlife Development Agency (ERWDA) – and has made significant photographic contributions to these agencies.
Feeling for people in need, Dr. Hersh Chadha considers philanthropy as a necessary tool in contributing towards human development. Education is one of the focal points in the framework of his philanthropic activity. Responding to requests from the Blind school in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Dr. Chadha arranged for state-of-the-art Braille printers and Braille books and paid for the complete overhaul of the electrical system at the school. His Internship Program in Dubai provides opportunities for professional training, to students from all round the world, in the field of Digital Photography and Photographic Modelling. Dr. Chadha has interned over 95 students in photography and modelling from various countries. The Hersh Chadha foundation has sponsored the education of over 200 students worldwide across multiple universities, by providing them with scholarship grants. In addition, he contributes to various charities and supports upcoming sportsmen and sportswomen.
His desire to establish photography as an art form saw him institute an annual award at the prestigious Institute of Journalism at Taras Shevchenko Kiev University. Dr. Chadha has provided crucial support for the establishment of infrastructure for the students of the Journalism and Mass Communications program at the media lab of the new campus of American University of Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and set up a state of the art photography lab at the Kiev National University of Technologies and Design in Ukraine. He has provided financial grants to several students of the faculty of Journalism at the AUCA. Dr. Chadha has also helped the Maldives National University (MNU) to establish close links with the American University of Sharjah, by funding the study trip of the Maldives National University faculty to the UAE, and helped MNU by sponsoring a faculty member of the Journalism Department for a period of 6 months. He is now a visiting professor at the Taras Shevchenko Kiev University, the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyzstan National University, and the Institute of Foreign Languages at the International University of Kyrgyzstan, Maldives National University and host of other universities. In 2009 the Taras Shevchenko National University celebrated its 175th anniversary and, on this occasion, Hersh Chadha was bestowed the coveted title of Honorary Professor. In Feb 2014, The Kiev National University of Technologies and Design awarded Honorary Doctorate to Dr. Hersh Chadha.
In 2013, Dr. Chadha commissioned three of his photography internship students from Kiev, Ukraine to complete different photographic projects, which involved photography, e-books, multimedia presentation, coffee table book, and exhibits. The first book, Urban Beauty by Andrey Kvasov, covers major cities of Europe bringing out their beauty in urban and traditional architecture, people, bridges, and transportation. The second book, The Cell by Maria Savoskula, is about Cell photography and features the bright and unpredictable images of plant, animal and human cells as an abstract art. The third book, India By Foot, by Sergey Polezhaka, features images taken while traveling across the length and breadth of India in a limited time frame and portrays India in its different shades and nuances.
In 2015, Dr.Chadha in association with Department of Photo Journalism at the American University Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan organized a photography competition among the students and nominated the winner Talgat Subanaliev for the photography expedition to Antarctica. In February 2016, Talgat undertook a 10 days voyage across Antarctica along with researchers and photographers from all over the world; The trip was organized and fully sponsored by Dr. Hersh Chadha.
As he never tires of saying, ‘Life is beautiful and photography only enhances it.’ Indeed, ‘Have camera, will travel,’ seems to be Hersh Chadha’s eloquent mission statement.
Memberships
The 1001: A Nature Trust (WWF International)
The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain
Emirates Fine Arts Society, Sharjah, UAE
Honorary Member of the Union of Photo Artists, Ukraine
American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP)
North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA)
The Managing Committee, The Delhi Private School, Dubai
The Harvard Alumni Society of the UAE
The Stanford Business School Alumni Association
International Who’s Who of Professionals
The National Geographic Society
The University Council of American University of Central Asia, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
