Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri

Indrani / Photographer and Director

Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri is an Indian-Canadian photographer, director, and female empowerment advocate. Known by a single name for her “iconic imagery and visionary storytelling” (Huffington Post), Indrani’s work is described as “dynamic…at the crossroads of pop culture and critical acclaim” by the Lincoln Center, which presented her major exhibition ICONS to accompany her book ICONS with former creative partner Markus Klinko. Collaborating with legendary artists as well as marginalized voices, her work explores the intersection between fantasy and reality from diverse perspectives. Her photos and films have won 25 awards including Best Picture and Best Director at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, two Gold Lions at Cannes Festival of Creativity, and Best Film at the CNN Expose Awards 2018 for Girl Epidemic, on the millions of girls missing in Asia due to sex trafficking and female infanticide.

While studying cultural anthropology at Princeton University, Indrani was discovered and mentored by David Bowie, with her first album art for his Heathen, of a blind poet questioning faith, and her directorial debut for Valentine’s Day, exploring the mind of a mass shooter. Indrani has been instrumental to many artists’ careers, including Beyonce’s superstar solo debut, for which she created her image for Dangerously in Love, Lady Gaga for The Fame, and Kim Kardashian in a coffin for Digital Death, raising awareness of AIDS in Africa.

Featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Rolling Stone, Vogue, Vanity Fair and VICE, and published in 23 books, her work has been exhibited in museums including the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, The Center Georges Pompidou, The Rubin Museum of Art, The Victoria & Albert Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum at FIT, The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and The Australian Center for the Moving Image, and her videos have 70 million views online. Regularly interviewed for CNN, HBO, E! News, and Showbiz Tonight, she is invited to speak at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Centre Pompidou, New York University, Princeton and Harvard.

Born in Calcutta, India and raised volunteering with Mother Teresa, as a teen international model-actress Indrani co-founded Shakti Empowerment Education Foundation (SEEschool.org), providing education to 300 disadvantaged women and children annually. Indrani is now Co-Host of the Global People’s Summit during the General Assembly at the United Nations democratizing access to conversations and information that shape the world, a Fellow and Speaker at Women’s Entrepreneurship Day at UN Headquarters, and Executive Director of SDG Icons, creating a cultural movement with the world’s greatest leaders, influencers, and heroes in the field around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals at the UN in 2020.