In the second edition of Indian Photography Festival in Hyderabad, it was bonhomie laced with a word of caution about an art form that has become truly democratic with almost every cellphone having a camera. “It is easy enough to fire away your cellphone or the camera and fill it with 64GB of images but it will not have the spirit.
Don’t use the database of your head, use your heart to click photographs,” eminent photographer Raghu Rai told the assembled photographers in the State Gallery of Art on Thursday evening.
Mr. Rai was effusive in praise for the newest state in the country:
“Any time there is an event with which the government is associated the event becomes dull. But here we have government officials on the dais.
And he (Tourism Secretary) is offering you freedom to do whatever you want and offering you space. This is rare. I congratulate the new state of Telangana for this drive and initiative,” said Mr. Rai in his keynote address.
Earlier, Telangana Tourism Secretary B. Venkatesham, said that the State government wants to back efforts to create Hyderabad as a centre for conventions, meetings and exhibitions.
Financial assistance
“Last year, we just gave space. This year we have given some financial help for the festival considering it is being well organised. We want this to become one of the biggest exhibitions for photography in the world in the next 10 years,” said Mr. Venkatesham.
This year’s edition of IPF brings the work of 300 photographers from 36 countries to the city and has a line-up of 31 exhibitions, two photo-book launches, workshops, portfolio reviews, projections and a host of other events in 15 locations across the city. The IPF will run from September 29 to October 9.
“An event like this gives photographers an opportunity to teach and to communicate. It will educate the next generation of photographers about the art of capturing the essence of the moment. This brings great imagery, great exhibitions and great stories,” said photojournalist Ron Haviv.
Using the occasion, Mr. Venkatesham asked the photographers to stay back and capture the magic of Bathukamma.
“This year, we are going to have Maha Bathukamma with 10,000 women dancing and creating a flower formation. I promise that this will be most colourful event you will come across,” he said.
