Sixteen-year-old Abhijith A.V. is good in Carnatic music, instrumental music, and is an excellent artist. Above all, he is crazy about wildlife and wildlife photography. ‘The Song of Shama,’ the first exhibition of photographs on wildlife by Abhijith, declares the arrival of a rare talent.
A class 11 student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Sulthan Bathery, Wayanad, Abhijith is the son of wildlife watcher and photographer A.V. Manoj Kumar, who has evidently introduced his son to nature and its wonders.
Though he has always been a part of his father’s work since early childhood, Abhijith started taking the camera seriously two years ago. The 50-odd photographs of varied species of birds and animals displayed at the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery in Kozhikode have been shot over these two years.
“I found all these animals and birds around my house and my village Kallur, which is near the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary. I found around 80 species within the coffee plantation where I live. It was only for the hornbill that I had to go out,” says Abhijith.
This is also Abhijith’s message to the world on World Environment Day — that there is great biodiversity around us, but we do not pay attention. He also stresses the need to conserve these species for the coming generations.
Abhijith has had quite an adventurous two years going after the rare birds and animals. He broke his limb when he fell from a tree while watching the Bonelle’s eagle. “We set up a camouflaged space near the eagle’s nest and watched it for three years – from nesting to laying eggs to hatching and until the little birds flew away,” he says.
He speaks about how he came face-to-face with a tiger while getting down from the tree once.
The exhibition that began on Wednesday will conclude on Sunday.
