Large format photographs erected at the Old Port beckoned people of all strata, breaking into the humdrum of the sleepy Puducherry town.
From the stories of whalers from faraway Lofoten Island in Norway to the fishermen in Puducherry, the 400 photographs told different stories on the one theme ‘water’.
The grand opening of this photo festival at Old Port in Puducherry on Friday was followed by blessing of water and nature through music by Water Aria, a collaborative vocal performance.
Many renowned photographers including Cheryl Newman former Photography Director of the Telegraph magazine, London, have come down to Puducherry for the festival. The second edition of this photo festival organised from August 27 to September 11 will have several workshops, film screenings, community outreach programmes and cultural performances including a rock concert.
Sunday’s schedule
The festival this Sunday will begin with a presentation by biologist Tasneem Khan on ‘Swamp storytelling: Of spaces in between land and water’, followed by a presentation by women’s rights activist Sheba Chhachhi on ‘Alternative Imaginaries’.
Photojournalist and founder of global documentary initiative Everyday Climate Change, James Whitlow Delano, and environmental activist Ravi Agarwal will present on ‘Our Changing Climate: Documenting Climate Change and the Role of Social Media’ and ‘Below the Aesthetic Radar: Ecology as a Counter-image’ respectively in the evening.
The day will end with a roundtable on ‘Under and Over the Bridge: Water, Social Awareness, Activism and Art’ moderated by photographer Waswo X.Waswo.
PhotoINK will hold two exhibitions for PondyPHOTO 2016. ‘Water Towers’ by Randhir Singh, an architectural photographer based in New Delhi and ‘Everyday Baroque’ showcases a unique series on water storage tanks in villages in Punjab by Rajesh Vora.
