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Friday, October 21, 2011

European Architecture

European Architecture, a photo exhibition by Sanyam Bahga held at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Chandigarh from October 11 to 16 was unique in its own way. Sanyam is a student of Architecture and had made these images as a part of his project for the course. But what impressed me and other photographers here was the quality of his images. These appeared as if by a Travel Photographer shot at different places in Europe.


Secondly, he had shun the concept of bold frames for photographs. Here I had already been discussing with some of my photo-friends that the increasing trend of framing images for exhibitions either behind glass or laminate them adds to the total cost of the exhibition. And after the exhibition is over, one has to find a place to store these frames. Sanyam had used thin lining of black coloured plastic to cover the edges of the board on borders. His exhibition also added a point to our debate whether to use bold frames or not.

Invitations missed

During this year I have missed two important events concerning photography because of some unavoidable circumstances.

It was in July 2011 that I received a written communication from Mr Wimal Amaratunge, Executive Director of the National Association of Photographers – Sri Lanka inviting me to join the celebrations of the World Photography Day with them. They had been organizing World Photography Day for the last five years. They had offered return air fare and three nights stay in Colombo. I appreciate their gesture, but somehow I could not make it.

The second invitation is from my friend Mr T.S.Reddy, but I have already conveyed my inability to join him in the last week of December 2011.

His organisation is holding a mega event from December 22 to 25 in Andhra Pradesh. There will be a journey by boat from Rajahmundry to Khammam and a work shop.He has cosen me as one of the faculty members in this work shop. He has offered 2nd class rail tickets up and down and has written, “we will take care as a flower from step down to send off this place”. I know him very well and have no words to thank and appreciate his courtesy.

I am also expected to show my works as slide show and deliver guide lines concerning my field of interest to capturing better photos in future. He has also written that I should bring along 10 of my best pictures in the size of 12x15 for the exhibition.

But I am unable to make it during these dates as I have to perform a religious ritual concerning my dear aunt who has left for her heavenly abode in January this year.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Mr S. Thippeswamy

Today, the morning began with a phone call from well known nature photographer, Mr S. Thippeswamy. He had returned to his home town, Mysore, yesterday after receiving the coveted honour of FPSA at the annual conference of the Photographic Society of America. By getting this honour, he has joined a select class of photographers in the international circle of photography. I am proud of him. I had the opportunity to be his proposer.Thanks to the PSA for recognizing his contribution to photography.


I appreciate Mr Thippeswamy’s spirit with which he applied. His achievement should inspire many others.

During our conversation on phone  this morning, he told me in detail about the honours ceremony and his interaction with some of the office bearers of the PSA, including the President and Chairman of Honours Committee. He appeared very excited and what added more to his pleasure was a felicitation ceremony by a local group of photographers awaiting him to honour this ace photographer the same evening for his significant achievement.

Only a few photographers in India have so far been awarded Fellowship of the Photographic Society of America.


Friday, October 7, 2011

DRISHTIKON 2011

An exhibition of photographs by two photo artists of Ludhiana in Punjab State, began today at the exhibition hall of Punjab Lalt Kala Academi in Chandigarh. It will continue up to October 10,2011.They are namely Ranjodh Singh and TPS Sandhu. Perhaps it’s the first time that I have seen their images in an exhibition.

Entitled as DRISHTIKON, they have termed it as an exhibition on Nature, but while going around the exhibition, I saw even those prints which do not fall under the ambit of this category. The good aspect of the exhibition is the huge size of prints, having maximum longer side of 44 inches. But the prints have high level of saturation of colours and these are a bit dark too thus suppressing some details in images. However, this might be an individual’s choice. Personal liking and disliking do matter, but when we make our exhibits public, it’s better to share these with widely prescribed norms. After seeing this exhibition, one realizes how much we learn by participation in exhibitions organized by prominent organizations.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Luminous Interval


An exhibition of photographs entitled as ‘Luminous Interval’ by Chandigarh based photographer Dinesh Verma was held in the gallery of India Habitat Centre, New Delhi in September 2011.He had exhibited some of the photographs of his recent visit to the USA.

The title of the exhibition seems to have been derived from the writings of the Greek philosopher Nikos Kazantzakis, who envisioned life as a "luminous interval" during which decomposition and decay are necessary prerequisites to creation and renewal.

This reminds me that when I had visited the USA in 1999 and had returned with a bag full of photographs, I too had held an exhibition the same year at Fine Arts Museum of Panjab University, Chandigarh. It was entitled as ‘US Kelidoscope’.

What interests me most in this exhibition by Dinesh Verma is that he is among the few who are going away from the home town to hold exhibitions of their works. It’s not that we do not have enthusiasts of photography in our city, Chandigarh, but some people prefer to hold exhibitions in the national capital with the hope to get wider impact.

Although I could not join Mr Dinesh at the inaugural function, I had the opportunity to see most of his images before their display for public viewing. His images were taken at some specific locations in the USA and thus reflected the cultural aspects, the land and the people. This was his second solo show as his first solo exhibition was based on images of flowers and it was held in Chandigarh. I hope to see more of the works of Mr Dinesh in days to come.

















Sunday, October 2, 2011