“Whilst the Jallikattu protest happened in Tamil Nadu, I was surrounded by police, asking me to break the SD card of my camera as I was covering the incidents.

Fearful it was but I became confident after that! The time that I felt the Journalist in me!

I’m Lakshmi Kanth, a passionate storyteller, photographer and freelance Journalist.

My passion for storytelling and giving a voice to the voiceless has led me on a journey to cover some of the most important and impactful stories of our time.

I come from Dindigul. It was in 2011 that we (as a family) moved to Chennai. Everything was new. I took this space to learn, get innovative and created ideation around my thoughts. Also got to volunteer in a lot of social activities during my late teens.

I was passionate and desired to join the Visual Communication course at Loyola but due to unfortunate situations joined B.A.Tamil in the same college. I tried to get into my desired course so without minding the college, I joined Vis.Com. in another college by quitting Loyola. During the Chennai Flood (2015), my brother’s company offered a loan and my family accepted to buy me my favourite camera, which was an unforgettable moment.

I was brought up in North Chennai and I liked the ambience there too. I started covering up human life stories and documented them. One of the independent media houses offered me an intern job to be a voice for the voiceless in society. Meanwhile, I learnt video editing. I travel more so that I can meet more people.

My content became my identity!

BBC was my dream place to be. I visited the office for an interview with stumbled English communication but had so much confidence in my work and presentation. I won the job! Travelled to Delhi and worked there for about a year. Returned back to Chennai to uncover more stories and journeys!

I own photos for 2TB and have created & published 70 videos which comprise news features, untold stories so far!

Each film has been a powerful reminder of the importance of giving voice to those who are often marginalized and overlooked.

I am proud of my work and look forward to continuing to tell salient stories for many years to come.”