Almaas Masood is a journalist, photographer, and field producer based in Hyderabad, India. For over five years, she has reported on economic and environmental change, coastal livelihoods, maritime geopolitics, and technology. Her work blends long-form reporting, photography, and video storytelling across formats.
Her photography has appeared in Reuters, The Guardian, CNN, The Hindu, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
She has produced broadcast and radio stories for NPR, ABC News, and Context by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
She has reported on science, climate, technology, and infrastructure development for Rest of World, Mongabay, Dainik Bhaskar, The Print, and The Migration Story.
Her long-term documentation of coastal micro-economies was exhibited in England as part of a showcase of Indian women photographers, and published in a coffee-table book.
Almaas holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Political Science, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Multimedia Journalism. A self-taught photographer, she speaks five languages.
Long-term photo project
This project explores India's coastal micro economies. The documentary spans across 2,050km between Tamil Nadu (1,076 km) and Andhra Pradesh (974 km). Here, the Bay of Bengal, and Palk Bay sustain millions of population. Dozens of fishing harbours, and significant ports aside, that move goods, fuel, and militaries worth multibillion USD round-the-clock.
Behind these figures, Gen-Z fishers are questioning identity in the digital age.
Women seaweed divers work in rough waters, to women sustaining the coastal economy as traders, auctioneers, vendors, and processing workers through seafood supply chain. Their labour is the invisible engine of India's blue economy.
Through portraits and reportage, I aim to document both survival and precarity. On land, economies are organized by fixed systems of property and regulation.
Whereas, along the coast, survival flows according to lunar cycle. I explore what it means to live at the Indian ocean's tidelines now.
The project examines how coastal infrastructure, informal markets, and climate change, from rising heat to eroding shorelines, are reshaping maritime livelihoods.
Exhibited internationally and published widely, this work positions India's coastal communities at the heart of global conversations on sustainability, gender, and the future of fisheries.
Commissions
Hyderabad, India
