Bhumika Saraswati

Bhumika Saraswati is an award-winning Indian journalist, photographer, filmmaker and an educator whose work documents lives and narratives often overlooked or erased. Specialising in long-term work, with visual-first approach, she makes nuanced stories more accessible and impactful. Her storytelling is deeply personal and globally resonant. Bhumika's work has garnered both local and international recognition, including the UN-Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitive Reporting, the Human Rights Press Award and the RedInk Award for Excellence in Indian Journalism. Her writings, photography, and films have been published with the Associated Press, New York Times, The Caravan Magazine, Outlook Magazine, The Hindu newspaper, SCMP Films, and more. Born into a Dalit household — a community stigmatized as "untouchable" under South Asia’s rigid caste-system — Bhumika's storytelling is deeply informed by her lived experiences and the resilience of her strong single mother, Gita Rani who raised her single-handedly. Bhumika is also neurodivergent, living with a mix of adult autism (AuDHD) and ADHD, which gives her a unique way of seeing and processing the world. While constant anxiety presents its own challenges, she has learned to harness the creative and analytical strengths of her neurodiversity in her storytelling. (This also means that while she might struggle to reply to emails immediately, you can always expect a thoughtful and thorough response once she does.) Bhumika is the founder of Kranti Collective, a physical space and a collective in Palam Village, Delhi that houses a free public library, Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Library, and hosts film screenings and co-learning workshops, particularly for children and women from marginalised backgrounds, like her own. Her acclaimed project Unequal Heat (@heat.southasia), documents how rising temperatures disproportionately impact marginalized communities, the project also extends the idea of "unequal heat" to how, heat is not just rising temperatures, but also a strong metaphor for a simmering rage, born from generations of subjugation, known to oppressed people intimately. Bhumika is currently touring the USA (East Coast), presenting her work, where she is exhibiting and delivering public lectures around gender, caste and climate crisis at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), New York University (NYU) and American University (AU), in February and March of 2025. Connect with her here: She is prompt on Instagram at @bhumikasaraswati