Street Photography Awards 2025 Enter Today

Vasantha Yogananthan

A Myth of Two Souls: Hand-painted photographs
About Vasantha Yogananthan

Born in 1985, Vasantha Yogananthan lives and works in Paris. In 2014, he co-founded the publishing house Chose Commune and published his first book, Piémanson, which was nominated for MACK First Book Award and Kassel Best Book of the Year.

In 2015, Vasantha Yogananthan was the recipient of the IdeasTap/Magnum Photos Award (category international) to help him fund A Myth of Two Souls, his 7-book project on the Ramayana in India. In 2016, he was awarded the Prix Levallois. In 2017, he was awarded an ICP Infinity Award as Emerging Photographer of the Year, and was selected among the 20 FOAM Talents.

Bookmaking and editing is central to his work and he considers the photobook to be his primary medium for research into original narrative approaches. A Myth of Two Souls will be published into 7 books.

Featured on LensCulture
  • The Merits of Pink
    Vasantha Yogananthan
    With a delicate eye for detail, color and texture, French photographer Vasantha Yogananthan’s epic interpretation of the “Ramayana” takes a painterly precision to the medium of photography.
  • Love, Family, Brotherhood: Ancient Themes in Contemporary India
    Vasantha Yogananthan
    This photographer’s seven-year-long project takes an ancient Indian epic—The Ramayana—and reimagines it with contemporary photography shot all over the country. Hear from the photographer and traverse the sub-continent in this video interview.
  • A Myth of Two Souls: Understanding India Through the Ramayana
    Vasantha Yogananthan
    The Ramayana is India’s national epic and key to understanding this vast, varied sub-continent. A young photographer has used it to guide an ambitious, multi-year journey—learn more in this extended interview.
View more View less
Vasantha Yogananthan's Projects on LensCulture
Vasantha Yogananthan's Books