Kunj Trivedi was born in Mwanza, on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania. Both of his parents were teachers who had emigrated from Gujrat in 1929. Educated initially in Tanzania, he came to Baroda in 1946 and graduated in Commerce from the Maharajah Sayajirao University in 1951. He came to Mumbai and was articled to G.P.Kapadia, the Founder President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Enrolled as an associate member in 1954, he moved to Mombasa, Kenya to practice. In 1972, he moved to Hong Kong as co-founder of a family owned finance company. In 1986, the family acquired a controlling interest in The Indian Card Clothing Co. Limited, Pune, of which he became the Chairman in 1988.

His first encounter with the wild was on a school trip to the Serengeti National Park in 1945: huddled in the back of a surplus WWII army truck, listening to lions roaring, his passion for the natural world and all its creatures was sparked. This was furthered by reading about the adventures of the first European explorers of the bush, particularly J.A. Hunter’s autobiographies. However, rather than shooting with guns like his childhood heroes, his father encouraged him to capture the world around him on film: he gifted Kunj his first camera, a second-hand Kodak. His pride and joy for many years, it had bellows and needed 120mm film – a far cry from the streamlined accessories of today! Although holidays included day trips to Tsavo and Ngorongoro, amongst other National Parks, his early subject material was not exclusively wildlife.

1992 marked a new phase in Kunj’s photography. Until that point, it had always been secondary to his “day job” as a chartered accountant and businessman before lying dormant for many years. However, a wildlife photography trip with Sir Ian Douglas-Hamilton, a world-renowned conservationist, to some of Kenya and Tanzania’s National Parks, rekindled his interest. From then on, he developed an almost obsessive interest merging the two hobbies into one: wildlife photography.

Since then, he has traveled around the world, photographing our remaining wild spaces. Europe, North Americas, Asia, Southern as well as Eastern Africa, and Antartica, have all been explored and recorded on slide first and now digital photographs.

He is fascinated by animal behavior, particularly by predators in action. If forced to choose a favourite, big cats have the X-factor: tigers first, then leopards, cheetahs and lions. His subject range has expanded to include landscapes, and, under the influence of his close friend, Kakubhai Kothari, heritage sites. And what keeps him going? The field itself: the digital format with its associated innovations challenge him to master new software and printing technology.

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