Shaju John is a versatile artist who creates transformative visual stories that straddle several mediums, Shaju uses his craft as a visual journalist and film-maker to showcase the burning issues of our world with the compelling mission of driving meaningful change and sustainable solutions.

Shaju’s work has been published by The Hindu, the Mathrubhumi Group, international agencies such as UNDP, UNICEF, BMGF, World Bank and other organisations with a global reach.

He is now focused on high impact social projects with a lasting imprint, such as bringing health to all people, green energy, sustainability, nature conservation, biodiversity & wildlife and healing the environment for humanity’s long-term survival.

Shaju’s versatile body of work has positively influenced landmark decision-making in the areas of health and environment. Shaju John is based in Chennai, India where he works out of his Elements Studio.

Located on a lake shore on the outskirts of Chennai, Shaju John’s Elements Studio offers the artistic and tranquil abode for him to work with writers, designers, film-makers and sound engineers to create images, films and multimedia that have a transformational impact on society.

Shaju John’s photographs capture the soul of the moment, freezing vignettes of vibrancy, emotion, joy, endeavour and cultural traditions. They visually weave insights on every facet of life in India: women, children, communities, leaders, hope, despair and resilience.

Shaju John has made films that tell moving stories: of communities, of our lost natural heritage, of new possibilities in development and hopeful narratives of our diverse world. They spotlight issues that affect people the most: health and environment. They inimitably capture the lives of the most vulnerable communities with deep insight and disarming candour.

One of his films, Wounded Hills, chronicles the destruction of India’s verdant Western Ghats by quarries, attacks by loggers and miners, and by human-nature conflict. Some of these challenges are being offset by community projects, to bring about healing through green change. A larger, work-in-progress version of this documentary will include more detailed interviews with climate and environment experts, as well as visuals shot over extensive areas of the country’s Western Ghats region. The film will highlight the growing threats to communities living in areas vulnerable to environmental impact. It aims to bring to the notice of all the stakeholders concerned the continued neglect of this crucial biodiversity hotspot.

The film “Eye on the Marsh’’ describes the issue of water bodies vanishing from the cities by undertaking a visual documentation of the Pallikaranai wetland in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. This crucial biodiversity zone has all but disappeared over the last 20 years due to the rampant violation of environmental laws and indiscriminate dumping of the city’s unsegregated garbage. Joining local communities and citizen groups in South Chennai, photographer and filmmaker Shaju John has tirelessly campaigned to create awareness of the urgent need to save the Pallikaranai marsh from encroachments.