The fifth edition of the month-long Indian Photo Festival began in the city at State Art Gallery. “In the age of selfies and cellphone photography, this festival is aimed at creating a platform for conversations about the art,” said Aquin Mathews, the organiser of the event.
A few of the iconic photographers are in the town for the festival and are showcasing their work. Several workshops are also lined up along with the event. On Thursday, the keynote speaker for the inaugural was George Steinmetz, who has created a niche for himself with photographs of industrial-scale food production across the world.
Using paraglider and drones, Mr. Steinmetz has photographed the changes in the landscape where food is being produced in scale to feed the world’s growing appetite.
He showed images of a camel dairy in Abu Dhabi, a ship that catches and processes all the fish required by McDonalds, mechanised harvest of cabbage in Holland and a salmon farm which has 25% of the world’s market share. “Sometimes, when I am eating yoghurt, I feel like I am part of some machine that is processing the food. The future is a robotised food factories. There is this cheese facility in Italy where it is turned by robots to ensure even treatment,” said Mr. Steinmetz. “I have become more aware of food choices. We all have to be. We cannot dictate to others. But we should realise what our food habits are doing to the world. Photography is about communicating the message eloquently and directly. I am trying to do that,” said Mr. Steinmetz.
The photography festival runs through till October 20 with walks, workshops and displays at various galleries.
