We are delighted to announce the recipient of the Shared Ecologies Photo Grant 2026-28: Gaurav P. Patil, for his project ‘Lifting the Everyday Veil’ that focuses on the coasts of Goa and Maharasthra, bringing intercostal beings to life through his photography, while critiquing the industry of tourism that leaves the coastlines deeply affected. Gaurav Patil is a marine biologist turned nature educator, photographer, and illustrator based in Mumbai. With a master’s degree in marine biology, his early career was marked by contributions to research on marine mammal ecology, coral reef resilience, intertidal ecology, and elasmobranch fisheries. His work with various senior researchers on different projects unveiled his true passion for visual storytelling, leading him to artistically portray often-overlooked wildlife landscapes. 

Congratulations, Gaurav, we look forward to the development of your project! 

We are also pleased to announce the special mentions by the jury: Muskaan Gupta and Ufaq Fatima. 

Muskaan Gupta (b.2000, India) is a visual artist from Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Coming from the western Himalayan region, her practice focuses on representing the changing landscape and the communities connected to it. She works closely with materials and people, letting her surroundings shape her process. Muskaan’s work spans photography, filmmaking, sculpture, painting and collage, with exposure to various printing techniques such as cyanotype, carbon printing and darkroom printing during her NID education. 

Ufaq Fatima is a documentary photographer and journalist from Kashmir whose foreground memory, resilience, and the politics of representation. She works at the confluence of memory, displacement, erasure, and the cyclical nature of power, navigating fluidly between personal narratives and collective histories. By layering intimate portraits with a documentary approach, she creates images that articulate trauma, resilience, and cultural memory. Her practice is invested in the ethics of witnessing, caring collaboration, and the dignity of marginalised voices.