Echoes of the mountains, tranquil seascapes, the poetic rhythm of life and enchanting shades of Nature will come alive this weekend at the TLN Sabha Hall in Andhra University. A two-day photography exhibition of the nineth batch of students pursuing a Diploma in Photography at the university will unfold diverse themes, with focus on landscape and portrait photography. The show is a glimpse of the budding photographers’ creative vision and storytelling abilities. About 25 students from the batch will showcase their photographs, marking the culmination of the course.
From breathtaking vistas of rolling hills and majestic mountains to tranquil seascapes and serene monuments, each photograph captures the essence of a place and conveys its mood and character.
Samina Sultana’s selection from her travels take one across the world to places of stunning beauty and give a peek into rare tribal cultures. One picture of the Lake Baikal in Siberia, the world’s deepest and most voluminous freshwater lake, portrays fascinating ice formations, undulating surface ice and icicles as travellers navigate through it. Speaking about her experience of walking across frozen ice to photograph the moment, Samina says: “Time stood frozen on Lake Baikal at minus 25 degree centigrade. Three-and-a-half feet deep, it was the hardest surface that I walked on for four consecutive days to capture the vast stunning wilderness. I was often greeted with a thunder-like roar that was nothing but the cracking of the lake’s surface.” One of her other pictures take one to the golden eagle hunters of the Kazakh tribe who reside in the Altai Mountains in Mongolia. A diminishing tribe, the pictures highlight the tough life they lead in a remote, rugged terrain and how they train golden eagles to hunt food for them in harsh winters.
The many moods of Visakhapatnam are captured in the frames of Kotni Deva Sahayam as he travels across the city’s bylanes to freeze moments from daily life. A daily-wage labourer carrying her child in the same tub she loads the bricks from a site.
Four smiling children sit together outside their huts, depicting an innocent moment of childhood. Steady hands turning the potter’s wheel, showing a fast fading profession. Deva’s pictures share many emotions from the quotidian life.
Anita Rao’s picture of two children involved in playful banter brings out the simple joys of childhood. “As a psychologist, I quietly observe human behaviour and like to freeze the moments in my camera. For instance, what arrested my attention was the moment children were animatedly having a good time, unmindful of safeguarding their fine clothes at a party or watching the proceedings of the grown-ups,” she says.
Behara Sharat captures the essence of Nature and wildlife in his images clicked at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park and the picturesque beaches of Mangamaripeta.
Ravi Kumar, faculty of Department of Photography, Andhra University, says that more than just a visual art form, photography is a powerful medium that shares unique perspectives. “The diploma course gives a basic introduction into the parts of camera, how to operate one and develop a perspective,” says Ravi Kumar adding: “There has been a soaring interest in photography in the recent years with people exploring the intricacies of composition, lighting and storytelling through images at a time content creation has seen new dimensions in social media.”
The photography exhibition titled Auperturartists will be open for public on March 30 and 31 at TLN Sabha Hall, Andhra University, from 10am to 6pm.
