The Indian Photo Festival 2022, which will begin in Hyderabad on November 18, will bring together emerging and established photographers, photography enthusiasts and photo editors for workshops, talks, masterclasses and exhibitions. More than 5,000 participants have registered for the month-long eighth edition of the festival, which will be an on-ground event after the pandemic-induced online sessions the last two years. More are expected to sign up in the coming days.
The Indian Photo Festival (IPF) will be inaugurated at the State Gallery of Art, Madhapur, which will host several physical and digital exhibitions and workshops, while a few other exhibitions will unfold at Alliance Francaise, KBR National Park walkway, and Salar Jung Museum in collaboration with Goethe Zentrum. A few pop-up exhibitions will take place at Durgam Cheruvu and metro stations in the city.
Festival director Aquin Mathews says, “The good response we have been receiving is in line with what has been observed in other sectors post-lockdown — revenge travel and shopping. Registrations for some of our workshops are closed, in some there are waiting lists while for others, slots are still open.”
The line up
Aquin strongly believes that photographs that highlight social issues can create awareness among viewers. Some of the exhibitions align with this line of thought.
Diego Fedele’s photograph shows destroyed houses on the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine, on April 25, 2022. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Photojournalist Smita Sharma’s work explores cross-border human trafficking, French photographer Ana Bloom’s lenses draw attention to the refugee crisis, Italian photographer Diego Fedele highlights the absurdity of war and Hyderabad photographer Nishat Fatima documents the LGBTQIA community.
One of IPF 2022’s highlights is a group exhibition by 50 women street photographers from 20 countries, curated by Gulnara Samoilova, founder of Women Street Photography collective. Gulnara is known for her photographs that documented the events in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and won the World Press Photo competition. She will be conducting a street photography workshop in collaboration with photographer Vineet Vohra.
Workshops at IPF
Two-day visual storytelling masterclass with Srinivas Kuruganti
Street photography workshop with Vineet Vohra and Gulnara Samoilova
Fashion and portrait masterclass with Manoj Jadhav
Travel photography workshop with Abhishek Hajela
Editing workshop with Dominique Hildebrand, photo editor at National Geographic
The business of photography with Kishor Krishnamoorthy
After the IPF announced an open invitation to emerging photographers to showcase their work, photographers from more than 60 countries came forward and shared nearly 800 images. “Many of these images are remarkably good, but we do not have the space to exhibit all of them. So we chose to have 10 print (physical) exhibitions, while 15 exhibitions will be digital, beamed on a large screen at the State Gallery of Art, in a loop,” says Aquin.
Learn from the experts
Indian and international photographers associated with National Geographic magazine will offer free portfolio reviews for emerging photographers.
Hyderabad photographer Kishor Krishnamoorthi trains his lens on the red chilli market | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Photographer Srinivas Kuruganti will conduct a two-day masterclass on visual storytelling. Manoj Jadhav will conduct a three-day fashion and portrait masterclass.
Photo editor Dominique Hildebrand will conduct a photo editing workshop for emerging and professional photographers.
Aquin sums up, “In the last two years, we conducted physical exhibitions but shifted interactive talk sessions and workshops online. In 2020, we witnessed eager participation since everyone was spending time online. However, in 2021, we witnessed online fatigue. Nothing matches an on-ground event since photography experts and enthusiasts look at it as a forum to network, apart from honing their craft. We have participant registrations from other cities and galleries from different cities will also visit to view works of newer artists.”
(For the complete schedule and to register for workshops, check www.indianphotofest.com)
