Opening spread of Viral Images, an essay on the role of photography in reporting on COVID-19, first published in The Caravan. The essay was prompted by the trolling received by various photographers reporting on India's brutal second wave, calling them "vultures" and "feasting on the dead." Beyond COVID-19, it looks at other instances where images have created political tension such as burial of truth in caste crimes and Kashmiri photojournalists being awarded the Pulitzer prize.
Tanvi Mishra works with images as a photo editor, curator, and writer, based in New Delhi, India. Among her interests are South Asian visual histories, peoples’ movements as well as the notion of fiction in photography, particularly in the current political landscape. Until recently, she was the Creative Director of The Caravan, a journal of politics and culture published out of Delhi. She is part of the photo-editorial team of PIX, a South Asian publication and display practice. She works as an independent curator and has been part of the curatorial teams of Photo Kathmandu, Delhi Photo Festival as well as the upcoming BredaPhoto Biennial in 2022. Her writing on photography has been published in various platforms including Aperture, FOAM and The Caravan. She has served on multiple juries, including World Press Photo, Hindu Photojournalism Awards and the Catchlight grant. She has also been a mentor for the Women Photograph program and is part of the first international advisory board of World Press Photo.
Quick links to POY Asia 2022 Judges: Nyimas Laula / Liang-Pin Tsao / Anush Babajanyan / Ikuru Kuwajima / Tanvi Mishra / Samuel He / Jean Chung / Sanjit Das / Maika Elan / Oded Wagenstein
Opening spread of The Great Upheaval, an essay on the impact of the digital revolution on photography and whether it has the capacity to shift the power dynamic in photography. The piece was published in Transformations, Exploring Changes in and Around Photography, a project to explore changes and support photography in a digitally connected world.
"Is it possible for us to make demands from the omnipresent medium of photography that are radical and push conversations beyond what we already see? I am interested in images that present intersections of issues and reflect the complexities of human life and society. In a world where old cycles of oppressions take new forms, the image must evolve to show us not just evidence, impact and suffering but also help society imagine futures that we wish to inhabit."
Tanvi Mishra
Installation view of Ian Teh's work The vanishing as part of my curatorial venture at Photo Kathmandu in 2016. The work looks at the construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river and the displacement of people and submergence of cities, town and villages. The installation was done in a local hiti, or a traditional stone fountain, where the local community collects water in Patan, Kathmandu.
A few covers of The Caravan magazine that were commissioned during my time as Photo Editor/Creative Director. These address, from left to right, issues of climate change, sex workers' rights, caste and survivors of the Bengal famine.
Covers of all issues of PIX since 2011. PIX is a South Asian publication and display practice looking to archive contemporary photography in the region. Over the last ten years, PIX volumes have addressed various thematics and also produced country specific volumes on photography from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Installation view of Kunda Dixit's A Peoples' War as part of my curatorial venture at Photo Kathmandu in 2016. This work was part of a larger group show titled Measures of Loss and Memory of War, which looks at movements against the State in South Asia, including the Maoist rebellion in Nepal, the insurgency in Chattisgarh in India and the civil war in Sri Lanka.
