Students across government and private schools capture vignettes of life through the lens at a photography workshop conducted by Chennai Photo Biennale.
The residential camp at Cholamandal Artists Village taught students the basics of photography and using phones to create evocative images. Students began their mornings by the beach, before moving on to the narrow alleys of the surrounding fishing village, allowing them to interact and get deeper into their subjects.
I chose marine life as my theme for the workshop. When I saw these crabs on the shore, I immediately tried to compose a low angle shot using the rule of thirds. I had to lie down on the sand to get the right frame. I am glad that I could click a photo of this crab family. — K Manikandan from Govt. Higher Secondary School, Chinnasekkadu
“I used portrait mode to click this picture. I learnt something which was extremely useful especially in taking this particular photo, which was to keep the phone straight, and to mainly focus on the subject, and not on the little distractions in the background. I really like this picture, their eyes show the calmness within them, but the seriousness on their faces tell you a lot more about the two. The background also tells you about the conditions in which they were living in." - Saadhya V Rajaramfrom D.A.V. Girls Senior Secondary School
“I wanted to portray the hard lives of fishermen and their everyday activities on the beach. This is a photo of a particular fisherman getting ready, before he ventures out into the ocean. The colour contrast and light is what impressed me to click the photo the way I did. I wanted to keep sun behind him, to show that there is light, there is hope in his life despite all the hardships he goes through to make ends meet.” - Kavyafrom Velammal Global School
“I clicked this picture as I felt it conveyed a lot about our subject and how he has hope in his eyes. I fee this picture portrays the subject in his true self, hardworking, optimistic and a self contented person in a very colourful background with his even colourful smile. Also, I really like this picture because I was able to combine 'Colour contrast' and 'Frame within a frame' in one single image.” - Suke Bhargav from D.A.V. Boys Senior Secondary School
“I took this photo to highlight colour contrast between the building and the sky. To make sure that the photo has a subject, I waited patiently and when I saw a crow flying close to the building, I immediately clicked this picture. I used a vertical frame and low angle to cover the entire building and hence I like this photo.” - D. Arulfrom Govt. Higher Secondary School, Chinnasekkadu
