Gautam Rajadhyaksha

Rajadhyaksha died on 13 September 2011, in the morning, three days before his 61st birthday, from a heart attack.

His 1997 released coffee table book, titled Faces, contained profiles of 45 film personalities beginning with Durga Khote, one of India's first ladies of the Indian screen and ending with Aishwarya Rai, the former Miss World and today Bollywood's leading actress. In 1992, he wrote his first screenplay, for the film, 'Bekhudi', which launched actress Kajol's career and his second, 'Anjaam' presented, Madhuri Dixit with a challenging role. In 2000, he held his first ever photo-exhibition in Pune which showcased, twenty years of his photography work. Exhibitions of Rajadhyaksha's work have been held in Pune, Goa and Kolhapur with all attracting large crowds. Further exhibitions of his work in San Francisco, London, Birmingham and Dubai, have all been well attended as well.

His first encounter with fashion photography happened 1980, when he happen to shoot pictures of actress Shabana Azmi (a college mate), Tina Munim and Jackie Shroff, and his passion for portraiture photography was lit, eventually he left his advertising job in 1987, and took up commercial photography full-time, and soon started doing product campaigns, media assignments and fashion portfolios.

Having completed a diploma in advertising and public relations, Rajadhyaksha joined the photo services department of the advertising agency Lintas India Ltd (now Lowe Lintas), in 1974. He eventually became the head of his department. During his 15-year stint, he participated in the creation of milestone ad campaigns while pursuing his childhood passion for photography.

Gautam Rajadhyaksha (16 September 1950 – 13 September 2011) was one of India's leading fashion photographers, and was based in Mumbai, India. He was one of India's best known celebrity portraitists, having photographed almost all the icons of the Indian film industry.