Chitrakatha: Where Every Picture is a Story

The latest photo book by a Mumbai-based couple weaves together visuals and text to explore nature, daily life, and cultural traditions. Each image invites viewers to pause, reflect, and engage with moments that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

- DEVENDRA AND TRUPTI NAIK

Along with my wife Trupti, I have been documenting the interplay of culture, nature, and human experience through photography for over a decade and a half. Based in Mumbai, we work as a team—both behind the lens and beyond it. While I focus on visual storytelling, Trupti contributes not only her disciplined energy from a background in athletics and yoga but also her own sensitive photographic eye. Our journeys have taken us through the Himalayas, Ladakh, Odisha, and deep into the rural pockets of Maharashtra—with both our perspectives finding space in this photobook.

How It All Started

My entry into photography was almost incidental. While trekking with a group from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), where I work, I felt the urge to capture the beauty I saw. I bought my first camera and began photographing landscapes. One trip to Himachal Pradesh changed everything. My friends submitted some of my images to a competition without telling me. I won two first prizes and a second. Trupti then encouraged me to join the Photographic Society of India, which became a turning point. Surrounded by experienced mentors, I found both structure and clarity.

The Idea Behind Chitrakatha

Chitrakatha is our second photobook, following Himalayas - The Tranquil Land (2017). Printed in December 2024, Chitrakatha contains 65 photographs across 84 pages, in a 13.5 x 9.5-inch (closed size) hardbound format.

We wanted this book to be more than a visual record—it is an experiment. We invited five well-known writers to respond to selected photographs without context: no titles, dates, or locations. They wrote what they felt, based solely on the image in front of them. This resulted in an honest dialogue between word and image.