It was because there was a queue at the lift of the Lighthouse that Rithwik V.J. decided to take the stairs. “As I was walking up, an entire view was unfolding before me. People on the Marina Beach started looking like small colourful things, and the sand became a canvas. When I got to the viewpoint, I took a picture with my iPhone,” said the 34-year-old.
That photograph won Mr. Rithwik the third place in the lifestyle category of winning photographers in the 9 th annual iPhone Photography Awards, which received thousands of entries from 139 countries.
Until last year, Mr. Rithwik, who is a solutions architect with a software company in the city, had never used mobile phone cameras. “My sister gave me an iPhone 5S as a gift, and I started taking photographs of it since I had heard so much about the camera,” he said. And so, when he went to Marina Beach with his wife last May, he decided to visit the Lighthouse — something he had always wanted to do. “I had to put my hand out and stretch a little to take the picture. Being a serious hobbyist photographer helped — I knew how to get the right angle,” he said.
Originally from Kozhikode, Mr. Rithwik has been living in Chennai for the past decade, and it was only after coming here that he seriously pursued photography, he said. He is a member of the Photographic Society of Madras, which was established in 1857, making it one of the earliest photographic societies in the world. “The Society has a chequered history. The last time it was revived was in 2007, and since then, it has been functioning successfully,” said president Thomas Abraham. Mr. Rithwik was president of the Society in 2014-15.
Sent eight pictures
He had sent in eight photographs, including a seascape from Kovalam Beach and a portrait of one of his daughters, but it was only Marina — arguably Chennai’s most iconic and beloved feature — that won.
