The son of an artist, Karan Khanna was born in 1956. His relationship with photography initially began as a hobby at school which he then steadily developed a passion for.  
 
He was often in a fortunate position to meet his parents’ friends who were top names in the world of art. One of them included the renowned and respected photographer, Henri Cartier-Bresson, from whom he learnt particular aspects of photography from. He motivated Karan to go beyond regarding photography as a vocation to looking at it as a way of living. 
 
Years later, though Karan had built up a successful career in advertising, he gave it up in 1982 to take up photography on a full time basis. Since then, he has created bodies of work which have been shown at several shows. Some of his work can also be found in private collections both in India and overseas.