“I like this picture the best. I haven’t seen an animal like this ever in my life”, says Manoj Kumar, a Class VIII student, pointing to photograph of the flying squirrel. I am at the DJ Memorial Photography Competition 2017. The squirrel, as it flies with legs outstretched, caught against the bright blue sky is eye-catching. It is taken by Sabari Janaki at Chinnar, Kerala.
The DJ Memorial Photography Competition was an online contest that invited entries in the category of Wildlife and Landscape. The entries are exhibited at the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery. The Brothers Throne, captured by Sachin Rai of Karnataka won the first prize and Rush Hour by Nitin Jain of Maharastra won the second prize in the wildlife section. Lonely Tree by Digwas Hegde Bellemane won the first and Trans Himalayan scape by Debraj Chakraborthy from Assam won the second prize in the landscape category.
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The Brothers Throne showcases two lions majestically sitting on a fallen tree trunk, enjoying the rain. The golden brown colour of the mane and the rich brown of the tree bark adds to the aesthetics of the image.
The Lonely Tree captures a lone tree, growing between rocks at the Hogenakkal falls. The bright green colour of the tree stands out against the background of the white, frothy waterfall. The composition is perfect, and I make a mental note to visit the place some day.
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I notice that waterfalls, mountains, deserts, elephants, and peacocks feature the most in the photographs. Copper-Headed Trinket by Sankar Kumar Das, shows the bright colours of the snake. With its mouth open wide and tongue out, I can almost hear it hissing. It is uncanny how the snake is looking straight at the camera.
Bright stars line the sky behind the silhouette of achameleon in A Starry Night by Mandur Ghumare from Maharastra. The mist-covered hills of Munnar, with Neelakurinji flowers is captured in Seasonal Bloom. It is difficult not to respond to the beauty of the place, with mist-shrouded tea plantations in the distance.
The photograph Bird in a Wheat Field by Anurag Gupta has a tiny bird amid the yellow wheat field. Swapan Jain has captured the efforts of a tiny spider that is trying to eat its prey, a dragonfly almost three times its size! It is called Spider Eating Dragonfly.
About the contest
The photo contest was started by Lakshmi Machine Works Limited (LMW) in 2012 in memory of the company’s former Chairman and Managing Director D Jayavarthanavelu (DJ), who had a passion for photography.
The entries for this sixth season of the competition, were judged by a three-member panel: Balan Madhavan, Apurba Kumar Das, and Theodore Baskaran.
First prize winners received a cash prize of ₹2.5 lakh each and certificates, while the runners-up got a cash prize of ₹1.5 lakh each and certificates.
Ten participants in each category bagged certificates of merit with a cash prize of ₹10,000 each.
This year, the contest received over 6,674 images from 1,484 participants
Info you can use
What: Exhibition of entries submitted for the DJ Memorial Photography Competition 2017
Where: Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery on Avanashi Road
When: Until August 4 from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm daily
Call: 0422-2574110 for details