The greatest achievement of an artist is his graceful presence
in the minds of those who love art.

            "In his pursuit for quality image-making, he came across much recognition as a natural outcome of his perseverance. The Royal Photographic Society, London, awarded him their prestigious title ARPS (Associate of Royal Photographic Society) in 2008; the Better Photography Magazine voted him one among the Top Ten Wildlife Photographers of the Nation in Oct.2007; the Limca Book of Records selected him for a record in Nature category as “the first Indian to exhibit butterfly photographs in the prestigious Cleveland Museum of Natural Hisoty, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in 2007”. Many of his work have been published nationally and internationally. His photographic work has appeared in reputed magazines like Better Photography, Times Journal of Photoraphy, Discover India, Naturalli Magazine, Outlook Traveller, Fotowide, Fototrax , Swagat magazine of Air India etc., with many of his images appearing on the front cover. His scientific work on the biology of many butterflies of the Western Ghats has received much acclaim among the scientific community and Bombay Natural History Society’s Journal has accepted his scientific paper for publication. Unni Pulikkal, a member of National Geographic Society, is the founder director of the Butterfly Art Foundation, India, (www.bafindia.org) a visual arts organization of Kerala. His award wining work has been exhibited in many galleries around the nation as well.
            The greatest influence on his photographic work was his experience with Ansal Adams’ original black and whites in the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2007. The same year, he got further inspiration from the work of America’s master photographer and platinum print maker Herbert Ascherman Jr of Cleveland, who trained him in the aesthetics and techniques of archival print making."

Memberships

Member and Associate (ARPS), Royal Photographic Society, UK
Member of National Geographic Society, USA.
Life Member and Director, The Butterfly Art Foundation, India www.bafindia.org

Exhibitions
1985 -95: Various Group Exhibitions in and outside Kerala, India.
1987-Solo Exhibition of Paintings, Medical College, Thrissur,Kerala, India
1996-All India Poster Exhibition on 'Man and Nature' conducted by Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy, Kerala, India
1997-Solo Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings, International Youth Canter, New Delhi, India
1997-'98- State Exhibition of Art 1997-'98 Kerala Laltiha Kala Academy, Kerala, India
1998-Solo Exhibition of paintings and drawings - Chithram Art Gallery, Cochin, Kerala, India
1998- Artists against Cultural Invasion' Exhibition (Group) - Kerala Sahithya Academy, Thrissur, Kerala, India
2000 - Solo exhibition of Photographs and drawings at Lalith Kala Academy Gallery, Kerala, India.
2001-Slide show on Nature, Cosmos Club, Chalakudy, Kerala, India
2001-Sixth All India Salon of Photography Exhibition 2001, Certificate of Merit
2001- 13th All India Salon of Photography
2002 - Best Work Prize in Internet International Art/ Photo competition 2002
2002- Online Exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Photographs by www.indigobutterfly.org
2003- 14th All India Salon of Photography (KERALA SALON '03), Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala, India
2004- India International Photographic Council Annual Photo Contest and Exhibition
2004- India Print Circuit -New Delhi, Bhusaval, Jodhpur and Bhurhanpur. IIPC Medal for Travel Photography 2004 (P.N. MEHRA MEMORIAL AWARD)
2004- Humanity Photo Awards Exhibition 2004 organized by China Folklore Photographic Association (CFPA) and UNICEF, Beijing
2004- First National Nature and wildlife Exhibition of Photography 2004- Bhubaneswar , India
2004- Fourth PSJ All India Salon of Photography- Jabalpur
2004- Online Exhibition of Mixed Media Paintings and Photographs -www.baf-art.org
2005 – Solo Exhibition of Photography, Durbar Hall Art Centre, Cochin



2005 – BAF International Print Exhibition of Art and Photography, Thrissur, Calicut, Cochin


2005 – India Circuit Exhibition of Photography by India International Photographic Council - Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Jodhpur
2005 – Global Ecomeet Photographic Exhibition, Thiruvananthapuram
2006 – Salon 2006 Exhibition, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, organized by The Photographic Society of India
2006 – State Exhibition of Art, Kerala, India
2006 – BAF International Photo-Art Exhibition-2005, 2006, 2008
Various Group Exhibitions and Salons in India.

2007 - Exhibition of Butterfly Photographs-
THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, OHIO, US - from June 15th 2007 to Aug 15th.
2008 – International Print Exhibition of Photography: The Butterfly Art Foundation India
2009 – Photography Camp at Vazhachal, Kerala, organized by the Butterfly Art Foundation

Portfolio at RPS

2009 - "Rhapsody in Abstraction" - Solo Exhibition of Fine Art Photographs at Chaithanya Art Gallery Cochin, Kerala, India
2010 - (upcoming) 'Evolution of my Photographic Art - 1999-2010' : A major retrospective show of contemporary photographs at Cochin, Kerala Oct-2010

Publications

• 2003 Aug : Kerala Diary: Photo feature on rural Kerala, Times Journal of Photography
• 2003 October: Aberrant Journeys and Scattered Images: Photo feature (Travel), Times Journal of Photography .
• 2004:Portfolio: Times Journal of Photography April 2004
• 2004-2008:Various publications in many local Malayalam journals like PHOTOWIDE Magazine and dailies.
• 2006: Federal Bank Calendar-2006,
• 2006, 2007: Kerala Feeds Calendar- 2006, 2007
• 2006: South Indian Bank Greeting Cards – 2006
• 2006: Kerala Forest Research Institute Brochure – 2006
• 2006: BAF India Brochure – 2006
• 2006: Kerala Solvent Extractions Ltd. Greeting Cards – 2006
• 2007: Cover Photo of the Swagath Magazine of Air India, The Monsoon Special issue, July 2007
• 2007-2008: Numerous Photo-Features on Travel Photography in Fotowide Magazine, Kerala
• 2007: DAMSELS FROM HEAVEN : A catalogue of Butterfly Photographs exhibited at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Ohio, US.
• 2007: BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine featured him among the top ten wild life photographers of India (Oct.2007)
• 2008 July: A ten page photofeature on the Butterflies of Western Ghats in Discover India Magazine
• 2008: Photofeature on South Indian Butterflies in Naturalli Magazine, Oct 2008
• 2008: Photo-story on the Wildliife of Kerala: WILD KERALA - Discover India Magazine July 2008
• 2008: A feature on his life and work in PhotoTracks Magazine Dec 2008
• 2009: Photo-story on the Birds of Kerala: Discover India Magazine Jan 2009
• Nature photographs published in many web sites including that of Royal Photographic Society
• 2009: Many travel & photo features published in Discover India Magazine, New Delhi.
• 2009: Cover photo of Outlook Traveller Magazine, July 2009

Jury

• 2008: Jury member of PC WORLD WEB AWARDS -2008 by PC WORLD Magazine.
• Jury member, BAF International Photographic Exhibitions 2005, 2006, 2008
• Jury - Photographic Club of IIM, Warangal 2009 Exhibition
  

• Photo-documentation and study of Butterflies of 11 Wildlife Sanctuaries of Kerala
• Study on the Biology and Life-stage documentation, first time in the history of the species,  of  extremely rare and endemic butterfly of the Western Ghats of India : THE PALMKING BUTTERFLY  Amathusia phidippus. The scientific paper on this study is in press of Bombay Natural History Society’s (BNHS) Journal.