A photograph can accurately and perfectly capture the emotions and moments which cannot be expressed in words, said Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, here on Thursday.
Addressing a meeting organised at the Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCV&A) after inaugurating the third national photography exhibition by the AP State Photo Journalists Association, in association with the AP Photography Academy, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said the government would encourage both national and international-level photography events in the State. The event was sponsored by the AP State Creativity and Culture Commission.
The exhibition was followed by India Press Photo Awards-2018.
He said it was heart-warming to see an event of this magnitude being organised in AP. As many as 1,890 photojournalists from 20 different States had sent entries.
Tough life
The Minister said it does take a certain kind of individual to be a good photojournalist. It was a tough life wherein he/she had to be prepared to be on their way immediately after a story breaks. He said keeping pace with the changing times, photojournalists had been working with great degree of commitment for the last several decades.
He said to help journalists lead a comfortable life, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had sanctioned houses for members of the fraternity.
Souvenir released
He also released a souvenir brought out by photojournalists of Andhra Pradesh and a poster of water sports. He also presented lifetime achievement awards to C. Kesavulu from Eenadu , K. Ravikanth Reddy from Sakshi and D. Seetharam, former photojournalist from Andhra Jyothi .
K. Sudheer Babu, a freelancer who posts his works on Facebook and V.V. Prasad, photographer from the State Information Centre, were given special prizes.
The Hindu’s photojournalists K.R. Deepak, Chief Photographer, Visakhapatnam and K.V.S. Giri, Special News Photographer, Hyderabad received the first and second prizes respectively at the function.
V. Peddi Raju, Principal News Photographer, The Hindu, Vijayawada, received a consolation prize for an image of a rally by monks in the ‘Photo Travel’ segment.
Special Correspondent, The Hindu, Visakhapatnam, Nivedita Ganguly, received Woman Photojournalist Memorial Award constituted in memory of Padma Vibhushan Awardee Homai Vyarwalla. It comprised a cash award of Rs. 10,000 and a gold medal by Federation of Indian Photography for her photographs of Araku Balloon show.
Press Academy Director Srinivas, CCV&A CEO E. Nagireddy, Malaxmi Group Managing Director Y. Harishchandra Prasad, and Andhra Jyothi Editor Srinivas were among those present.
