Gacad captured tumultuous political events in the Philippines in the 1980s, from the communist insurgency, to the 1983 assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, and the Islamic separatist problem in southern Mindanao island.

As a photographer for AFP, he covered the three US wars: 1991 Gulf War, 2001 war in Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He spent 41 days as an embedded photographer in the US Army 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, riding a military convoy on land and on board a Black Hawk helicopter, witnessing the fall of Baghdad.

Aside from photographing war, disaster and politics, Gacad has covered five Olympic Games — Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, capturing his favourite events in athletics.

Gacad’s work at the 1988 Olympics, the 2001 war in Afghanistan and the 2003 Iraq war, have been nominated for the Pulitzer.

S. C. Shekar
S. C. Shekar began his career as a photojournalist at The Star newspaper in the early 1980s, where his work won many photography awards. In 1989 he started Reds Studio Inc., specialising in editorial, architecture, hotels and resorts, and food photography.

His work has been featured in many exhibitions and Shekar has also been commissioned for work on a number of coffee-table books, among them Visions — A Multicultural Exploration of Malaysia and Australia (1997), A Vision Realized — The Petronas Twin Towers (1999), The Architecture of Malaysia (1999), Beyond Fusion — A Trans Ethnic Journey (2001) and Daughters of Asia (2002). More recently, he has worked on Straits Chinese Porcelain (2004).

Shekar is also very well known in Asia Pacific’s international hotel circuit. His trend-setting work for Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has won him much acclaim.

His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries internationally, such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Royal Albert Hall in London and the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. Alam is currently a visiting professor at the University of Sunderland and has been named Regent’s Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry, recognised universally as one of today’s finest image-makers, has won many of photography’s top awards. Best known for his evocative colour photography, McCurry, in the finest documentary tradition, captures the essence of human struggle and joy. A member of Magnum Photos since 1986, McCurry has searched and found the unforgettable; many of his images have become modern icons.

His career was launched when, disguised in native garb, he crossed the Pakistan border into rebel-controlled Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion. When he emerged, he had rolls of film sewn into his clothes and images that would be published around the world as among the first to show the conflict there. His coverage won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for ‘Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad’, an award dedicated to photographers exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise.

McCurry’s work has been featured in every major magazine in the world and frequently appears in National Geographic, most recently with articles on Tibet, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and the temples of Angkor Wat, Cambodia.

A high point in his career was the rediscovery of the previously unidentified Afghan refugee girl that many have described as the most recognisable photograph in the world today. When McCurry finally located Sharbat Gula after almost two decades, he said, ‘Her skin is weathered; there are wrinkles now, but she is as striking as she was all those years ago.’ McCurry has published many books, including The Imperial Way (1985), Monsoon (1988), Portraits (1999), South Southeast (2000), Sanctuary (2002), The Path to Buddha: A Tibetan Pilgrimage (2003), and his latest book Steve McCurry (2005).

Surat Osathanugrah
Surat Osathanugrah is the president of the Royal Photographic Society of Thailand. As a photographer, he has had his work exhibited at numerous galleries in Thailand and around the world, including the Leica Shop Gallery in Vienna and Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.

Osathanugrah has also published a number of books, such as Vanishing Bangkok, Luang Phrabang and Goodbye Bangkok.

When not taking photographs, Osathanugrah is the chairman Osotspa Group of Companies.