Veteran photographer K. Bhaskar Rao rarely steps out without his companion-cum-everything, his camera. He and his camera have seen a lot over the 50 years of his journey as a photographer. They have seen heritage buildings being demolished, the city of Visakhapatnam grow from a green landscape to an urban town, natural calamities like tsunami and cyclones and witnessed the city survive through major accidents like the 1997’s HPCL Blast. “I am still looking for my best shot. For me, photography is an expression of love, a way of communicating my perspective through the images,” says the 70-year-old photographer. Having completed 50 years as a photographer, Bhaskar Rao is showcasing some of his precious clicks at a two-day exhibition titled ‘Nostalgia’ at Visakha Museum on June 3 and 4.
Photograph of the Round Building in Bhimli that featured in ‘Maro Charitra’ and its Hindi remake ‘Ek Dhuje Ke Liye’
A native of Bheemunipatnam, Rao served the Indian Air Force as a photographer and after retiring from the services, he started his career as a freelance photographer in the city. Over the years, he captured heritage spots and structures around the region from the 1960s onwards, covered several key political events and also came to be the city’s first local photographer to cover sports events in the Port City, contributing to newspapers and magazines in the past.
A view of Thotlakonda Buddhist site
The two-day exhibition of the photographer will display a collection of rare pictures of Visakhapatnam region from the 1960s onwards. It will highlight the changing topography of Visakhapatnam Port with panoramic shots of the port area between 1950 and 1990, the formation of Kursura Submarine Museum in 2001-2002, visit of former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in the city for dedicating the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in 1991, the transformation of Kailasagiri from a barren land to a lush beautiful landscape, some important political events in the city such as Rajiv Gandhi's last visit to the city in 1991 before his assassination and other defining moments of the city’s history.
The exhibition will also feature the shots taken by the photographer during his travels to Andamans, Bhutan and Telineelapuram bird sanctuary. The exhibition will be on till June 4 from 10.30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
