Photography is an art of making memories tangible. When the world celebrated Photography Day on Friday, an octogenarian photographer from Shoranur was reminiscing about his six decades of dedication for the art through which he captured innumerable moments of significance for posterity.
Ramachandran Nair, aka R.C. Nair, was the photographer of Kerala Kalamandalam, a world-class centre for learning Indian performing arts, launched in 1920s by Vallathol Narayana Menon. For Shoranur and neighbouring places, Mr. Nair is still the photographer, though he hung up his cameras a couple of years ago.
Among the eminent personalities he captured through his lens were former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Morarji Desai and Indira Gandhi; former Presidents S. Radhakrishnan and R. Venkitaraman; former Defence Minister V.K. Krishna Menon; and the State’s Chief Ministers E.M.S. Namboodhiripad and E.K. Nayanar. As the lensman of the Kerala Kalamandalam for around 60 years, he captured almost all artistes of repute young and old.
