Commuters rushing up and down the long staircases of the Chintadripet MRTS station stopped by for a few minutes to gaze at the walls. For, colourful photographs adorned the usually boring and stained walls of the station.
A team of nine aspiring and amateur photographers who were trained at a photography workshop showcased their works that reflected the city’s varied flavours at the railway station.
Organised by Ueberall, an online photography platform, Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation (CPB) and Goethe Institut, ‘Hometown’, the photography exhibition speaks volumes of the photographers’ connect with Chennai and the vibrant nature of the city.
While the kitchens of Chennai fascinated Vivek Mariappan, who tried to capture the personality of people through them, bright sunlight excited Varsha Narayanan, who was away in London with gloomy weather for sometime.
Her photograph series showed hues of sunlight falling beautifully on various corners of her apartment.
Every photographer had attempted to present themes that affected or touched them be it their memories of the city, migrant workers, threat of encroachment or the relationship between horses and their caretakers at Guindy race course, and affection shared by elderly persons.
Mallika Rajkumar who had a brief stint as a wedding photographer was fascinated by Bharatanatyam dancers.
‘Classic, timeless’
“I wanted to bring out the classic and timeless nature of dance, and Triplicane through black and white portrait of dancers who learn art form at Saraswathi Gana Nilayam that was started in 1939,” she said.
These photographers were trained by Berlin-based photographers — Yana Wernicke and Jonas Feige — who aim to gather essence of the cities from around the world as seen through the eyes of local photographers.
Gayathri Nair, founding trustee of CPB, said, “We wanted to promote photography as an art form in the city that has imbibed music and dance in its culture. We encouraged photographers to look into their homes and neighbourhood for good pictures. The Southern Railway has always been supportive in hosting such events in public space.”
The exhibition will be on till March 17.
