Varun Thakkar
Wildlife photographer. Tracker. Storyteller of the wild, and son of Nagpur, the city at the heart of India's tiger country.
For over two decades he has lived and breathed the jungles of India, documenting its most elusive and majestic creatures. He has identified and photographed more than 850 individual tigers, alongside elephants, leopards, African wildlife and rare Himalayan species, a number so improbable that trackers across central India call him a talisman for sightings.
Growing up surrounded by the jungles of Vidarbha, Pench, Tadoba, Navegaon-Nagzira all within a morning's drive, Varun made the transition from weekend tourist to one of the country's most recognised wildlife photographers. His work has travelled far beyond central India: the Himalayas, the forests of the northeast, and the savannahs of Africa.
His expertise lies not in photography alone but in the art of reading the forest, in pugmarks, alarm calls and the small movements that give a predator away. He is guided not by maps but by instinct: the rustle of leaves, the alarm call of a deer, the silent gaze of something watching back. Those signs, invisible to most, lead him to moments few others have witnessed, the tiger's first step into sunlight, the leopard's shadow melting into dusk.
That work has earned national and international recognition. His images have been showcased by Discovery Channel, by government and conservation agencies across India, in conservation journals and global exhibitions, and have won four awards at Nature inFocus, Asia's largest wildlife photography festival. He is a Nikon Professional Services member and has led field projects with Sanctuary Asia.
But ask him and he will tell you the photography was never the point. His photographs are not images so much as stories of survival, resilience and the delicate balance of nature, an argument, in light and stripes, for the forests themselves. He has long worked with Srushti Paryavaran Mandal, Nagpur, for the betterment of wildlife and environment in central India. His mission is plain: that the roar of the tiger, the silence of the leopard and the rhythm of the forest endure for generations to come.
When India's finest
want the forest.
From members of the Indian cricket team to filmmakers and heads of industry, those who could travel with anyone choose to travel with Varun, for the fieldcraft, and for the discretion.
Your safari is as private as theirs. Who you meet in the forest stays in the forest.
"A good image is not about the equipment. It is about understanding the animal, its mood, its intention, its next move. Give the forest enough of your time, and it starts giving you its secrets."