Aishwarya Sridhar is an Indian wildlife photographer, conservationist, documentary filmmaker and TEDx speaker. She is the youngest winner of the Asia Conservation Young Naturalist Award (2011) and the International Camera Expo Award (2016). In 2020, Aishwarya became the first Indian woman to win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award.
Wiki/Biography
Aishwarya Sridhar was born on Sunday, January 12, 1997, in Panvel, Maharashtra. She attended Dr Pillai Global Academy in Navi Mumbai and later pursued her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Pillai College of Arts, Commerce and Science, Mumbai.
appearance
Hair color: Black
Eye color: Black
Family and caste
Parents and siblings
Aishwarya Sridhar’s father Sridhar Ranganathan is a member of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). Her mother’s name is Rani Sridhar.
Relationships, husbands and children
We know very little about her relationships.
Profession
Aishwarya was introduced to the world of wildlife when she was just 8 years old. She spent most of her childhood on trekking, wildlife trails, wetland excursions, bird watching and documenting them. Aishwarya’s father Sridhar Ranganathan was a member of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and he used to take her to nature trails as a child. In an interview, she said,
I first saw this big cat in Pench National Park when I was 11 years old. I was so excited, but I was heartbroken when I saw the news of the tiger being poached in the headlines. It was then that I decided I wanted to work in wildlife conservation.
In 2018, her first documentary, Panje-The Last Wetland, aired on DD National and helped protect the last remaining wetlands in Mumbai.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUZK8DbKsZ0
She has since been a member of the National Wetland Identification Committee appointed by the Bombay High Court. In 2019, she made another documentary, Tharu Queen, about Maya, a tiger in the Tadoba forests of Maharashtra. The documentary won the Best Amateur Film Award at the New York Wildlife Film Festival, becoming the first Indian film to win the award. It was also nominated for the Best Film Award at the 9th National Science Film Festival (2019).
Following this, in 2020, she directed an eight-episode digital series, Fun Crafts with Aishwarya, for WWF-India. In the same year, she hosted Discovery Channel India’s Future of Nature, a unique wildlife talk show focusing on India’s most endangered species. On October 13, 2020, Aishwarya became the first Indian woman to win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award for her mesmerizing firefly photograph, Passion Lights. It is a series of photographs taken over time and then re-superimposed together.
Aishwarya Sridhar’s Passionate Light
Awards/Honors
- Asian Sanctuary Young Naturalist Award (2011)
- International Camera Expo Award (2016)
- Young Digital Camera Photographer of the Year Award for “It’s a Small World” (2018)
It’s a Small World by Aishwarya Sridhar
- The documentary “Panje – The Last Wetland” won the Outstanding Short Film Award at the NexGen Short Film Festival (2019)
- Female Icon Award (2019)
Aishwarya Sridhar wins Indian Female Icon Award (2019)
- Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award (2020)
Facts/Trivia
- Despite being a wildlife and environmentalist, Aishwarya has never compromised on her studies. In fact, in 2013, she ranked first in the world in the Business Studies exam from Cambridge International Examinations. Her percentile scores in four exams were 97 in Business Studies, 96 in Accounting, 91 in Economics, and 85 in English Literature.
- She has written over 200 poems on nature and conservation. Her images, poems and articles have appeared in various magazines and newspapers including BBC Wildlife, The Guardian, Mongabay, Sanctuary Asia, Saevus, The Times of India, DNA, Hindustan Times, The Vibe and Pawstrail.
- She also works with local fishing communities, NGOs and the government to conserve wetlands in Maharashtra and is the youngest member of the Brief Documentation Committee on Wetlands in the state.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education