Siddharth Malik (36), a businessman and a wildlife photographer witnessed a fascinating sight this March in a jungle in Maharashtra - a tussle between wild boars and dholes (wild dogs) in an open forest land. “Nature photography does not give you a second chance, you have to know your equipment well and also be able to predict animal behaviour,” he said, at the valedictory function of the All-India Salon of Photography 2010 organised by the Photographic Society of Madras on Sunday.
The picture he clicked of the wild boar taking one long stride to knock off the prey in a single swipe was awarded the first prize (nature) at the exhibition.
The 500 photographs on display since October 19, at the Lalit Kala Akademi here, some of which took visitors to places unknown, brought them closer to emotions and sometimes made them stop and think, were judged by eminent photographers. Twenty one entries were adjudged winners under different categories that included nature, motion, travel, power of women, silhouette, monochrome and mobile phone photography. The other winners under these categories were Shudhagar A.M., Urvish Joshi, Manish Chauhan, Krishnakumar Muppathadam, Sudip Bhar and Gowthaman.V. Filmmaker Maniratnam who gave away the prizes said that every photographer was a micro-filmmaker who has to tell the story in a single frame. “They don't have the advantage of staging the story like we do,” he added.
Photographs of skyline reflections of skyscrapers, of a salute of a tusker captured against the backdrop of a setting sun and of a fishing net opening itself in the sea were the winning entries contributed by members of the club.
P.A. Vivekanandam, S. Vijayamurthy, N.P. Satsangi and S. Vasudevan were honoured for their lifetime contribution to the organisation. Lifetime achievement awards and honorary memberships were presented to photographer T.N.A. Perumal, film makers Shekar Dattatri and Maniratnam.
Sabyasachi Dutta, India Manager, Lino Manfrotto, was the guest of honour at the event.
