Jyothi Bhatt

Jyoti Bhatt (b.1934) has had a long and distinguished career as an academic, a printmaker, muralist, designer, digital artist and a photographer. He was among the earliest students of Fine Arts College at the M. S. University, Baroda. He was awarded scholarships from Ministry of Education, and Italian Government. Later he studied printmaking at the Pratt Institute, USA under Fulbright and JDR 3rd scholarships. In his five-decade long career, he has taught at the MS University and shown extensively at art and photography exhibitions in India and abroad. His numerous awards include a top prize at World Photo Contest, ‘Fotokina’ Germany (1978), the Grand Prix, at the Annual Photo Contest for Asia and Pacific, UNESCO, Japan (1989), Gold –Medal at International Print Biennial, Italy, National Awards and the Presidents Gold plaque, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gujarat State (2000) and Hon. Doctorate from Rabindra Bharati University.

Jyoti Bhatt’s photographs reveal his strong concern in the living folk and tribal art traditions of India. They gently delineate the encounter of tradition with modernity and are a powerful document to the integration of art in everyday life. He lives and works in Baroda.

Credits: Gayatri Sinha