Visakhapatnam’s Bharadwaj Dayala on a world tour to capture one million portraits of women

Bharadwaj Dayala embarks on a global journey to capture one million portraits of women, honouring their untold stories and contributions.

From the coastal city of Visakhapatnam to the farthest corners of the globe, Bharadwaj Dayala is on an extraordinary journey: one that spans 195 countries, seven continents and 12 years, capturing the portraits of women. But it is not the miles he is counting. It is the faces, the stories, the lives. His dream project, Million Amazing Women, is a visual tribute to the everyday woman...resilient, powerful, graceful, and often invisible.

Armed with a camera, a 100mm f2.8 lens, and the courage to chase a vision bigger than himself, 55-year-old Bharadwaj is on a solo mission, driving in a modified car to capture one million portraits of women. Each photograph, he believes, will serve as a silent rebellion against centuries of stories untold and contributions overlooked. “This is a visual tribute to women, ensuring their stories are preserved, honoured, and remembered for generations to come,” he says. The portraits, a mix of black and white and coloured ones, are posted on the Instagram page of Million Amazing Women Foundation.

The idea was born from a personal space to pay homage to his mother, Kusuma Dayala, who raised five children with grit and grace, despite challenging situations. She instilled in Bharadwaj the values of discipline, hard work, and cultural richness. “Despite living a modest life, she was the strongest person I knew. Her sacrifices and silent strength shaped who I am today,” he says. It was this inspiration that led Bharadwaj to ask a deeply uncomfortable question: Why has the world never truly captured the essence of everyday women on a global scale? What started as a thought soon turned into an ambitious blueprint. But this one would require him to give up financial comfort, commercial opportunities and even certainty. “A single photograph can challenge perceptions, spark change, and even shift the mindset of an entire nation. Imagine what a million portraits can do!” he reflects.

This isn’t Bharadwaj’s first tryst with the road. In 2006, he became one of India’s first solo motorcyclists to circle the globe. On his return to India, he was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then Chief Minister of Gujarat. “That journey was more about discovering myself. This one is about honouring others,” he says. Quoting spiritual writer Richard Rohr, Bharadwaj adds, “In the second half of life, we discover it’s no longer sufficient to find meaning in being successful. We need a deeper source of purpose.” That deeper purpose took form on International Women’s Day on March 8 this year when his journey was flagged off by Subhanginiraje Ranjitsinh of the Baroda (now Vadodara) royal family at the grand Laxmi Vilas Palace in Vadodara. Fittingly, she became the first woman to be photographed for the project, her elegance and strength immortalised in black and white. In just over a month, Bharadwaj has taken nearly 500 portraits, from royal figures to tribal entrepreneurs, daily labourers and young designers. A moment that lingers on is his meeting with a group of tribal women in rural Gujarat who run a small restaurant earning ₹8 lakhs per month. “That’s the kind of story we rarely hear. But they exist in corners of the world, waiting to be seen.”

To fund the project, Bharadwaj sold off all his real estate and dipped into savings built over decades. He estimates his current funds will sustain him for about a year. “But this is not a business. It is a non-profit cultural documentation project,” he asserts. Million Amazing Women will remain untouched by commercial branding or advertising. Two months before his departure, he sat across the table with potential investors. But the conditions came with branding obligations. “I realised that would reduce the women to objects, something beautiful to look at, rather than powerful stories to listen to,” he says. He simply walked away. Instead, he is banking on silent supporters such as philanthropists, institutions, and cultural organisations, museums and archival institutions who align with his vision.

Bharadwaj’s own story unfurls like a roller-coaster. Born to a film projectionist in Visakhapatnam, he grew up with four siblings, often juggling financial instability. While his siblings pursued professional degrees, Bharadwaj dropped out in his first year of college, questioning the very purpose of education. Drawn to technology, he enrolled in one of the region’s first computer training centres in the late ’80s. In six months, he was teaching others. By the early ’90s, he had set up computer institutes across Andhra Pradesh and Berhampur, only to lose everything and face bankruptcy by the 2000s. What followed was a phase of deep self-reflection and a solo motorcycle journey around the world. That trip made him a well-known name in India’s biking circuits. By 2020, he returned to tech and started a virtual production studio in Hyderabad, writing scripts and producing films. But the turning point came when he stumbled upon the iconic 1936 photograph Migrant Mother. “That image changed the lives of migrant women in America. I knew then what I wanted to do,” he says. Bharadwaj is currently on the Andhra Pradesh leg of his journey, before heading to the Northeast and eventually crossing into Southeast Asia.