For his portfolio, Indian-born Manish Swarup includes images from a twenty-year career covering news stories in Asia and Afghanistan.

Multi-award winner Manish, now 40 and living in New Delhi, started working with a weekly magazine, the Sunday Mail, and then joined a newly-launched publication The Pioneer.

After subsequently working for the national daily, Hindustan Times, he has spent the last seven years with The Associated Press.

Manish began using Nikon equipment but switched fairly soon to Canon, which he still favors. Among the many awards he has collected are a number in India, one from the International Committee of the Red Cross and two category first prizes in the Chinese International Press Award.

He says his favorite photograph is the first featured in his gallery here – the Kashmiri villagers traumatized after their homes were destroyed in fighting in 1996.

“I always try to be at one with the subject - to understand their feelings and emotions - and then shoot,” says Manish.

He adds: “The best part about news photography is that it doesn't give you time to think. It’s spontaneous. You shoot with your wisdom and experience. You don't have to wait for the bird in your frame or a person to pass. If your approach is right, they will come. You have to be ready”.