Virendra Prabhakar Biography 
Virendra Prabhakar was a photojournalist and photographer whose name has been included in Limca Book of Records as the longest serving press photojournalist. For his contributions towards the field of Indian journalism and photography, government of India honoured him with Padma Shri in 1982. He has been credited with 14,458 published photographs, which were featured in different Indian journals, magazines and newspapers. A veteran and senior most photojournalist from the field of Indian journalism, Virendra Prabhakar died in New Delhi on 4 January 2015.
Virendra Prabhakar hailed from UP, and he was born on 15 August 1928 during British rule in India. He belonged to a Jain family in UP. He did his schooling at the Doon School. During his school days, he got opportunity to study sculpture and photography from Sudhir Khastgir, which influenced him a lot, and proved to be a turning point of his life. The renowned sculptor was then serving as faculty in the school. He later took training in painting at the Chitrashala, Mussoorie.
His professional career began in 1947 at the age of only 19, when he covered Asian Relations Conference hosted by the provisional government at Old Fort, headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, just a few days before Indian independence. Since then he was active in the field till his death happened in 2015, with 14,458 published photographs. His name was also entered into Limca Book of Records as the longest serving photojournalist.
Apart from publishing his photographs in leading Indian magazines and newspapers, he also conducted photo exhibitions at different places. He was one of the founding members of Chitra Kala Sangam, and also remained as its secretary. The organization was based in Delhi promoting art and culture.
Published: January 10, 2019
Updated: January 10, 2019
