Saunak Shah is an Indian-born, New York City-based travel & portrait photographer, graphic designer & creative director with over 15 years of experience.
Saunak is the Founder of Pursuit of Portraits (PoP), a Brooklyn-based collective that represents diverse global creators via curated experiences, brand activations, shared narratives, content creation and community building.
Saunak is a Brand Ambassador for Google Pixel & American Express, Adobe Express.
Saunak traveled on the Global Pursuit over 1 year to 5 continents and over 21+ countries with Pursuit of Portraits. Through the collective meet-ups hosted while on “The Global Pursuit” and on-going programming efforts, Saunak (via PoP) met over 10 thousand people in-person and created impact (not just in impressions or buzzwords but IRL) by placing community-first; supporting talent over trend, diversity over monopoly and humanity over autonomy.
COMMISSIONED WORK
Saunak has worked with Delta, Marriott Bonvoy, Procter & Gamble, Land Rover, Adobe, IBM, Microsoft, Citibank, Google Pixel, OPPO Mobile, Huawei Mobile, Fujifilm USA, Tumblr, W Hotels, 66 North, Scotch & Soda, Kimo Sabe Mezcal, Skillshare to provide visual design, influencer marketing, integrated marketing, community engagement, content creation, photography, social strategy, consulting and storytelling in various capacities.
Saunak is currently based out of Brooklyn, New York.
Click here to view Saunak’s Design Portfolio.
ARTICLES + INTERVIEWS
The Space Between Us - A Solo Show at Parasol Projects - “Pride Month Spotlight: Four LGBTQ+ POP UPS you’ll love” – July 13th, 2022
Destination Different (Apple Podcast) - “An interview w/ Saunak Shah on PoP celebrating 10 Million Photos on #PursuitofPortraits, Building a Global Collective & More” – May 19th, 2021
Cosmopolitan (India) - “4 Photographers Whose Striking Portraits Capture the Beauty of India” – March 2nd, 2020
Half & Half Travel; “16 NYC Travel Influencers and Bloggers to Follow” – December 16th, 2019
Musotrees; - “Colours of Cuba” – November 14th 2019
HomeGrown; “Role Reversal A Photo Series On The Deeply Ingrained Patriarchy In India” – October 22nd, 2019
Up Automation: “#JustAddGratitute with Saunak Shah of Pursuit of Portraits” – October 21st, 2019
OPPO Mobile; “Saunak Shah captures the true beauty of India in 10 days over 10 cities” – July 20th, 2019
Pursuit of Portraits; “The Space Between Us”: Solo Gallery Show, Parasol Projects, Nolita, New York – July 4th–7th, 2019
Musée Magazine; “Photo Journal Monday: Saunak Shah” – July 2019
Creative Live; “We Are Photographers”; Podcast on The Global Pursuit by Kenna Klosterman – February 2019
Creative Live; “Street Style: How to Photograph the Emerging Trends of Fashion Week” – February 2019
The Curator Mag; “Connecting Continents, Portraying Pursuits: An Interview with Saunak Shah” – November 2018
The Photographer Academy; “Pursuit in Vietnam: A Spotlight” – October 2018
Carpe Bloom; “The Man behind the Pursuit” – August 2018
The Creative Live Blog; “10 Out-of-the-Ordinary Portrait Photographers to Follow on Instagram” – March 15, 2018
PhotoShelter; “Why This Portrait Photography Community is Only Getting Bigger” – February 2018
About.com Travel; “How @saunakspace Captures Wonder in the World” – November 2017
Becoming Daily – “Podcast; “Ep. 31 Saunak Shah – by Will & Imani” – September 2017
HomeGrown; “The stories of 15 inspired young Indians who chose their dreams over stability” – February 2017
Aésthetist; “A conversation on the photography, the importance of the moment, and the power of art” – June 2016
Baker+Brown Co; “Pursuit of Portraits” – January 2016
KeepSnap; “Interviewing Saunak Shah: Sense of Place and Existentialism in Photography” – September 2015
IN THE NEWS
American Express Business Class LIVE 2022 – Meet the Panelists – July 2022
Exchange4Media: “OPPO collaborates with photographer Saunak Shah for ‘Reno India 10x Tour’ campaign” – July 2019
PR Newswire: “The Global Pursuit with Photographer and Founder of Pursuit of Portraits” – October 2018
The Fox Magazine: “Saunak Shah travels 21+ countries in 1 year to defy barriers between virtual & in-person connections” – October 2018
Tumblr x NYFW: “Tumblr sends 9 creators to cover New York Fashion Week” – Sept 2017
The Monocle Muse: “NamaSlay NYC; A project by creatives of the South East Asian community ” – June 2017
Holi NYC x PoP: “Pursuit of Portraits partners with Holi NYC to create "Portraits in full color" –
Lomography x PoP: “Pursuit of Portraits partners with Lomography to celebrate National Film Day” – April 2017
PoP x Tumblr: “Five Tumblr photographers take over various rooms of W's Union Square” – February 2017
EXHIBITIONS
Beyond Borders: Curator for gallery show with VERO & Pursuit of Portraits, Okay Space Gallery, New York – Sept 14th–27th, 2019
The Space Between Us: Recent Solo gallery show Press Release >, Parasol Projects, Nolita, New York – July 4th–7th, 2019RAW BROOKLYN / REFLECT: Featured photographer at RAW : New York, Brooklyn Night Bazaar, NY – March 13th 2019
The Global Pursuit (Special Edition): Solo gallery show in partnership with Remote Year, Lab1, Bogota, Colombia – October 27th 2018
Talk in Images: Featured photographer, International Center of Photography (ICP), New York, NY – May 2018
Spoken Word: Summer artist resident at BBDO NY in partnership with Pursuit of Portraits, New York, NY – July 2017
"PoP Up at the W": A Photography takeover in partnership with Tumblr x W New York, Union Square, New York, NY – February 2017
Acme Hotel: Featured photographer, Acme Gallery, Chicago, IL – Summer 2016.
Unseen NY – Chelsea Market: Featured photographer, Woodsnap, New York, NY – Summer 2015
Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Featured photographer, #MobilePhotoNow, Columbus, OH – March, 2015.
#24HourProject: Featured Photographer, Guadalajara, Mexico – Summer 2014
PANELIST/CURATOR
American Express Business Class LIVE 2022: Panelist, Javits Center, New York – July 20th, 2022
MPB’s The Photo & Video Kit HALL OF FAME: Nominating Committee, Summer 2022
Google Pixel “Seen Beyond the Lens" Pride Panel: Panelist, Google Pixel Store, Chelsea, New York – June 22nd, 2022
Beyond Borders: Curator, Okay Space Gallery, New York – Sept 14th–27th, 2019
Ee2 - NYC - Panelist for Empower+Elevate – January 19th 2019
All things Instagram - Panelist for Photo Shelter – January 2017
PoP Up at the W - Curator for a photography exhibition at W New York Union Square – February 2017
Portfolio Reviewer for NYC FotoWorks – 2016 - 2017
Finding your NonProfits Visual Story Panelist for Gram for a Cause – December 2015
The City Exposed - Curator for a 360 photography exhibition at Wunderman, NY – Summer 2015
@PursuitofPortraits - Lead Curator – 2015 to Present
PUBLICATIONS
Cosmopolitan (India); the world's largest selling magazine // Featured Photographer – Feb 2020 Issue
Pursuit of Portraits Magazine; a print biannual of portrait photography // Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director – Spring 2017
Pursuit of Portraits Magazine; a print biannual of portrait photography // Founder, Editor-in-Chief and Creative Director – Fall 2016
LIFE on Instagram; a photography annual published by Penguin Books, U.K // Featured Photographer – Fall 2016
MusoTrees; a Kuala Lumpur-based print publication on journey and destination // Contributing Photographer (Volume 2) – Spring 2016