The image of a traditionally dressed grandmother on her way to a wedding lunch clicked by a student of Telangana Tribal Welfare Fine Arts Academy (TTWFAA) has made it to the Vogue Italia magazine.
The student, Mamatha Gugoloth, who is pursuing a BA (honours) course at the TTWFAA in Sircilla said, “That is my paternal grandmother Kesli who was on way to a wedding lunch in our Banjepally thanda in Kamareddy district. I shot the image in daylight without a tripod.”
On July 5, Telangana IT Minister K. T. Rama Rao shared the image of the woman dressed in a colourful outfit wearing a faint smile. Mr. Rao also complemented Mamatha and her teachers at the institution.
“I gained interest in photography when I was in Class IX. Back then my teachers used to ask me to click their photographs. That’s why I chose the photography course. I want to either pursue wedding photography of fashion photography,” said Mamatha whose father is a farmer.
The photographs were shot for an exhibition to be hosted at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad as part of the 10th year celebration of Telangana formation.
“This image and others were shot for the exhibition. I decided we should go out and shoot in natural surroundings instead of a studio. We went to nearby villages and thandas where the students photographed the people they knew,” said Raghu Thomas, the photography teacher and mentor at TTWFAA.
Mr. Thomas, who has earlier worked in Mumbai after finishing his studies in JNFAU had earlier contributed to Vogue Italia and decided to share Mamatha’s work with due credit.
“Most of our students are first generation learners. Learning fashion, interior designing, and photography is challenging. But the students are able to rise up to the challenge,” said Kondapally Rajini, the principal of TTWFAA.
