Sunil Gupta

Born in 1953 in New Delhi, Indian–British–Canadian photographer Sunil Gupta has a master’s of arts from the Royal College of Art, London, and a PhD from the University of Westminster, London. Gupta has been involved with independent photography as a critical practice for over five decades, focusing on race, migration and queer issues.

In 2025, Sunil Gupta’s retrospective Love & Light: A Site of Infinite Possibilities, curated by Charan Singh, is on view at the Chennai Photo Biennale. His upcoming shows include a presentation of The Lovers, with Charan Singh, at the New Art Exchange, Nottingham, UK. Gupta’s work has also recently been exhibited at the Barbican Centre, London, in a group show titled The Imaginary Institution of India, curated by Shanay Jhaveri, in 2024.

Gupta has several solo shows to his credit, including a special project at Art Basel, Basel (2024) and another important retrospective first presented at the Photographers’ Gallery, London, then travelling to the Ryerson Image Centre, Toronto (2022); as well as Charing Cross Hospital, London and Cambridge Wing Gallery, St. Mary’s Hospital, London, + Studio Voltaire (2022); Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2022, 2009); Hales London (2021); Materia, Rome (2021); the Photographers’ Gallery, London (2020); Brixton Tate Library, London (2020, 2019); Hales Gallery, New York (2019); Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto (2018); the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston (2018); Pelz Gallery, University of London (2017); Cardiff Photo Festival (2017); SepiaEYE, New York (2017, 2014); Whitney Humanities Centre, Yale University (2015); and Grosvenor Vadehra, London (2010), to name a few.

His group participations include the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC (2024–25); São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil (2024–25); Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2024); Tate Britain, London (2024); Magazzino delle Idee, Italy (2024); Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (2023–24); New Art Gallery, Walsall (2023-24); the viewing room at Frieze, No. 9 Cork Street, London (2023); the National Gallery of Art, Washington (2023); Foundling Museum, London (2023); Tate Britain, London (2023); the Whitaker Museum & Art Gallery, Rossendale (2023); the Barbican Art Gallery, London (2020); Vancouver Art Gallery (2019); Soho Art Gallery, New York (2019); Leslie Lohman Museum, New York (2019); the Kochi–Muziris Biennale (2018); the Philadelphia Museum of Art (2015), among many others.

Gupta’s latest publications are Come Out, published by Stanley Barker, London, in 2023, and We Were Here: Sexuality, Photography, and Cultural Difference, Selected Writings by Sunil Gupta, published by Aperture New York in 2022. His other publications include the monographs London 1982 (Stanley Barker, 2021); Lovers: Ten Years On (Stanley Barker, 2020); Sunil Gupta: From Here to Eternity (Autograph, 2020 – which won the Kraszna-Krausz Photobook Award 2021); Queer: Sunil Gupta (Prestel/Vadehra Art Gallery, 2011); Wish You Were Here: Memories of a Gay Life (Yoda Press, 2008); and Pictures From Here (Chris Boot Ltd., 2003).

His work is in many private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA; Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany; Sharjah Art Foundation, Dubai, UAE; Bodleain Libraries, Oxford University, UK; Tokyo Museum of Photography; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of London; George Eastman House, Rochester, USA; Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Royal Ontario Museum, Canada; Tate Modern, London; Harvard University, Boston; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

He is a professorial fellow at UCA, Farnham, visiting lecturer at Kingston University and visiting tutor at the Royal College of Art, London. He was lead curator for the Houston Fotofest in 2018.

The artist lives and works in London, UK.