If images could speak, there would have been a symphony emanating from the vast multitudes of people and places captured in the photographs on display at the All India Salon of Photography that was inaugurated at Lalit Kala Akademi, Greams Road, here on Tuesday.
Organised by the Photographic Society of Madras, the exhibition showcases more than 500 photographs that have captured everything from cultural marvels to animals on prowl and abstract objects of daily use.
With the photographs depicting a wide range of themes from misty mornings to monks dancing on mountainous terrains, rural games, tranquil landscapes and efforts to rescue cattle by owners, the entries in exhibition were renditions of realities. The photographs were classified into six categories – nature, motion, travel, power of women, monochrome and mobile phone photography. A collection of black-and-white photographs marked a sharp contrast to the others that dazzled with colours of all shades.
Visitors were also treated to a peek into the past at the exhibition of photographs from The Hindu archives.
Apart from professional photographers, several doctors, entrepreneurs, journalists, chartered accountants and students have participated in the event, said Ganesan Pajanissamy, Chairman, Salon Committee of the Photographic Society of Madras. “We received over 2,800 entries, and surprisingly the first entry was not from some metro city, but from a remote village in West Bengal,” he added.
Cinematographer and filmmaker Rajiv Menon, who inaugurated the exhibition, said that the advent of mobile phone photography had not only got many amateur photographers interested in the art, but also increased the scope for more candid and spontaneous pictures. “Camera users have to really click better pictures now,” he added. Eminent photographers from across the country would judge the entries. Prizes for the winners would be presented at the valedictory function on October 24.
