T. S. Satyan Biography 
T. S. Satyan was a veteran photojournalist and photographer from Mysore, present-day Karnataka. He mostly captured health related photos of India through his camera, and many of his pictured were featured in health magazines across the globe in 1960s, 1970s and later. His full name is Tambrahalli Subramanya Satyanarayana Iyer, and he lived during the period, 18 December 1923 – 13 December 2009. For his outstanding contributions towards the field of Indian photography he was honoured with Padma Shri in 1977. In 2004 he received an Honorary Doctorate degree from Mysore University. An exhibition of his photographs was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York to mark the International Year of the Child in 1979, which was sponsored by UNICEF.
Tambrahalli Subramanya Satyanarayana Iyer was born on 18 December 1923 in Mysore, Kingdom of Mysore. After clearing his SSLC exams in 1940, he bought his first camera for Rs 6. Seeing Satyan’s interest in photography, his English professor lent him Rs 350 to buy a reflex camera. When he went to return that money, he expressed his wish to develop a book on Karnataka. He fulfilled his teacher’s wish by contributing pictures to the text written by H Y Sharada Prasad.
He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree from Maharaja College. As a journalist he began his career with The Illustrated Weekly. Later he quit his permanent job to work as a freelancer and began to take up the assignments of UNICEF. He also worked with WHO as a freelance photojournalist in the early 1960s. During his long-term association with WHO, he photographed many pictures related to health work in India, and photographed many health campaigns too. His works used to frequently feature in World Health magazine, apart from publications across the globe.
He died of brain haemorrhage on 13 December 2009. He was married to Nagarathna and had three children. His name was dubbed as the "Father of Indian Photojournalism". Long before digital photography came to be and clicking pictures became accessible to almost all, he took to the craft with pure passion and honed their skills with sheer hard work.
Published: November 27, 2018
Updated: November 27, 2018
