Through the lens

A photographer has the power of either capturing the mystery of things or revealing the mystery through his/her picture to the viewer.  Australian-born photographer, Anne Geddes once said, “The best images are the ones that retain their strength and impact over the years, regardless of the number of times they are viewed.” Recently concluded exhibition titled ‘The Big Picture 2016’ featured the best press photographs of the past year.

From the turbulent Kashmir to those capturing triumphs of Rio Olympics, 71 photojournalists showcased their work in this bi-annual exhibition. Sondeep Shankar, curator of the show, says, “‘The Big Picture 2016’ is on its fourth edition of the public photo-exhibition and showcased a wide variety of news clippings of the collective work of its members. Although, the basic assignments of participants have centred on news events — lifeblood of the media they work for — these photographs capture fleeting moments of life.”

A picture from Sundarbans delta. (Photo: Biplab Banerjee)

He adds, “To shoot a candid picture, outside the realm of a photojournalistic assigned field, is a temptation no photographer can resist, and the urge to trip the shutter at the ‘decisive moment’, as the master photographer Henri Cartier Bresson called it, ‘is nothing but a reflex action’. Thus, sometimes masterpieces are created through the eloquent camera without realisation at the time of event.”

The show featured works by eminent photojournalists like Raghu Rai and Harish Tyagi to upcoming talents, shares Sondeep. He adds, “The platform gives equal opportunities to all members of the association who submitted their entries. The idea was to help the audience associate with the person behind the lens who has clicked the picture worth a million words that they have viewed in newspapers or television over the last two years.”

Heavenly eyes (Photo: Nitin Rai)

Photographer Ashish Sharma, who works for Open magazine, submitted two diverse themes for the exhibition — one of turbulent Kashmir and the other of vibrant colours of Nagaland. Talking about his works, Ashish says, “Our work demands us to travel to different parts of the country and capture various sentiments. The Kashmir series was from the assignment I went for, whereas the Nagaland one was from my personal collection. I was mesmerised by the beauty of the state and their culture. One of the pictures displayed at the show was of a little boy running down a church aisle during a traditional Christian wedding ceremony in Nagaland.”

Atul Yadav from PTI, who covered the Rio Olympics, captures women power through his work.  “I submitted my Rio series because I felt that these women made us proud with their determination and dedication. The emotions were high for everyone seeing them fight for the country and secure medals for India. Through these pictures I salute every woman of the country.”