Manik Katyal is a cultural entrepreneur, curator and publisher who has spent 15 years building platforms for photography and the people behind it. Born in Dehradun in 1989, he holds degrees in Commerce and Law and is studying for a Master’s in Criminology.

His work has taken him to 27 countries and earned more than 130 features in publications including TIME, Vogue Italia, Le Monde, The Hindu and the British Journal of Photography.

As a curator, he has taken Kashmir to Thailand and Lok Sabha to Italy, and showcased emerging Latin American photographers at the Guizhou Photography Festival in China. As guest curator of the Finnish magazine Raw View, he introduced readers to Daisuke Yokota, Xiaoxiao Xu, Sarker Protick and Prasiit Sthapit. He has taught at Fabrica, the Benetton Group’s research centre in Treviso, Italy, alongside Christian Caujolle, Erik Kessels, James Wellford and Dewi Lewis.

He has nominated photographers for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize (Germany), the British Journal of Photography (UK), European Photography (Germany) and Paraty em Foco (Brazil). He also co-founded FotoPaper and Just Another Photo Festival.

Emaho Magazine

Katyal launched Emaho Magazine in 2011, at just 21. It publishes in-depth features on the most innovative voices in photography and art, and earned him a nomination for the British Council India’s Creative Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2012.

Emaho Foundation

Founded in 2015, the Emaho Foundation champions meaningful photography from Asia, with programmes and platforms for emerging and established photographers.

The Kitab

The Kitab, founded in 2017, is India’s first international photobook festival. It brings experimental photography and bold bookmaking to new audiences across the country.

The Capitalyst

The Capitalyst sits where culture, commerce and ambition meet. Founded by Katyal in 2025, it profiles the entrepreneurs, investors, designers, artists and tastemakers quietly reshaping their industries.

Its long-form interviews and deeply reported stories go beyond the headline to the thinking and turning points behind people building things that matter, from heritage craft houses and fashion founders to hospitality visionaries and technology builders. They share one belief: what you build and how you build it are inseparable.