When photography teacher E. Amalore, MOP Vaishnav College for Women took his second/third year VISCOM students to Nepal on a trip and let them loose on the streets of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, he expected to be snowed under the task of viewing thousands of snapshots: what came as quite a surprise was the quality of the pictures: “Competition grade,” he nodded with quiet pride, sitting outside Lalit Kala Akademi where the annual photo exhibition ‘Positives’ is on.
‘Nepal and Other Frames’ is the theme for 2015 said the rookie photographers, giving me a guided tour of 217 pictures, of which ten have won prizes at a city-level competition.
Enthusiastically sharing their experience of clicking in abandon, they said, “The photographs fall into three categories, landscape, portrait and wildlife. But do look at the abstract ones too.” Five days is all they had, but “we hit the streets in the morning, fixed the time/place for re-grouping, and went our own ways.
We had back-up batteries for our DSLRs.” Each took upwards of 1,000 pictures, they laughed. Almost every trick the camera offered was employed. Technical help came from Magesh Ramdas, who’s very pleased with the output. “I talk to them about the frame (start-finish), what levels for land/sky in a landscape, how to prune forests, match colours, how to get the best out of B&W.”
“I never ask ‘What is the idea behind selecting a shot? That’s their choice. If I catch them going wrong in angle/colour/light/perspective/proportion/exposure, I ask them to think again. ‘Why don’t you try shooting from the other side of the plane?’ It’s gentle tweaking, when needed. When I see good work, I hold it up and explain where it scores,” said Amalore.
The breathtaking Himalayas, children in earthy colours, roadside shops selling handicraft, a blue mask hanging on a vermilion cloth, a shop of drums with a face between, a street with a house in dazzling blue, the reflection of the temple kalash in water, intricate carvings, a baby monkey yearning for the soft drink on an ad, boys in school, women spinning yarn while men sniff up hookahs, an intriguingly partitioned brick wall, a bell hanging above a boy’s head — here’s Nepal in all colours and perspectives.
“Other frames” include beautifully-patterned waves in Bali, tall palms against dwarfed buildings in Nagarcoil, a conch-shaped hillock in Madurai, boats in Royapuram, mist-topped hills in Kodaikanal, a close shot of a bat carrying a baby, balloons casting heart-shaped shadows on a nearby wall and a split picture in two mirrors. “It has been a learning experience for us as well,” said the teachers, surprised at the stories the pictures tell. “Photography is what you make of your surroundings, it’s a statement with a camera, a story well-told.”
The show is on till January 25 at Lalit Kala Akademi
