Hyderabad, September 06, 2018: The 33day long, South Asia’s largest Photography Festival—“Indian Photography Festival 2018(IPF)” kicked off here in the city at the State Art Gallery.
Starting today, the festival will go on till 7th October 2018.
Jayesh Ranjan who presided over the inaugural function declared it open.
With Smartphones in hand everyone is a photographer today, Jayesh Ranjan, Principle Secretrary, ITE&C, Govt of TS observed. Photography is a skill. We are all photographers. How do we compose requires different skills. This festival provides a chance to see, learn, how to craft and compose photographs he said.
Aquin Mathews, the Festival Director in his opening remarks said 550 photographers from 52 countries either participating or showcasing their works. 20 speakers from diverse backgrounds will be sharing their knowledge and experience. IPF in its four years is growing bigger and better he added.
IPF has turned the State Art Gallery into the Mecca of Photography, he added.
Nick Ut, a 70years old War Veteran Photographer from Vietnam graced and was in conversation with Mark Edward Harris, Travel and Documentary Photographer from USA at State Art Gallery Auditorium to mark the inauguration of the IPF 2018.
I though I would die every time I went into war zone to click pics said Nick. Nick Ut shared interesting insight behind several landmark pics he clicked.
This is my first visit to India. I have just visited Kerala. Soon I will go to Delhi. I have fallen in love with this place and I would like to comeback he said. He had half day on Wednesday to see city and visited Birla Mandir and like it so much.
The only difference in photography now and then are size of the cameras. They have become more slimmer. Photography today is much easier than then, five decades ago. But, there are different challenges to photographers today, he added.
Nick Ut is Vietnam War veteran photographer and World Press Photo Award, Pulitzer Prize winner, Nick Ut. Who shot into fame for his prize-winning photograph of Kim Phuc, the naked 9years old girl running and screaming after her village had been bombed with Napalm by South Vietnamese planes when the Americans and South Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1970 during Vietnam War. The image captioned “The Terror of War” subsequently won many awards and he shot into fame all over the world. Ut took her and several other wounded to a hospital. If not for his action, the girl would have died.
Ut retired from AP Photo News Agency after 51years of service. Now he engages himself documenting cultures and natural work, creating his own assignments and distributing his work through Getty Images.
Melissa Golden, Editorial Portrait & Documentary Photographer from
USA who said photo Journalism is job and tell the stories through my photos.
Robin Schwartz, Fine Art Photographer said it was her dream to come to India, which is a wonderful country.
James Wellford, a photographer with National Geographic Magazine that he was in Hyderabad 18 years after a short stint during that periods he did a photography course in the city. Hyderabad is a new discovery. I love rock formations here.
Portrait Lighting Master Sandra Millet stoke every ones heart as cane dressed in Indian attire, a white lungi and a white shirt from Ramraj Cotton. Looking him, Jayesh Ranjan commented that he dressed much more Indian than all of us. Photography is a universal language. It is number one teacher and educator. We know cultures and disasters from photographs.
Rohit Chawla formerly with India Today too spoke. Local photographer Prabhakar Kusuma said one photograph could stop war. That is the power of photography, he added. Boris Eldagsen from Germany also spoke and remembered some good time I spent in Hyderabad 22years back.
The festival which is in its fourth year is organised in strategic partnership with the Dept of Tourism, Telangana Government and supported by Goethe Zentrum, Alexia Foundation, Better Photography, Srishti Digilife, Pixpa, Rajan's School of Photography, Eyecatch, Kreativ Web Solutions and Better Photography.
Mark Edward Harris done photography in 98 countries in six continents is one of the speakers at a session during the festival tomorrow. His editorial work has appeared in publications such as Vanity Fair, LIFE, Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, GEO, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and The London Sunday Times Travel Magazine as well as all the major photography and in-flight magazines. He is the author of many books on photography.
According to Aquin Mathews, Festival Director of IPF, it is an international photography festival, showcasing a wide range of photography from India and around the globe with a series of events, including talks and discussions, portfolio reviews, book launches, screenings, workshops etc.
The IPF creates a platform for the professional and aspiring photographers, the photography lovers and the public where the festival promotes the art of photography at the same time address the social issues through the medium of photography.
Many Workshops will be held in conjunction with the festival. These include: 2 Days Master Class with Pep Bonet; The Fine Art of Travel Photography with Mark Edward Harris; A day with a Portrait Lighting Master--Sandro Miller; The Art of Editing with James Wellford; Hijacking the night with Boris Eldagsen; The Art & Business of Wedding Photography with Kishor Krishnamoorthi and Portfolio Review
The objective of Festival, according to Aquin Mathews, who works and lives between Hyderabad and Australia, is to bring international and local talent on one single platform, help them learn from each other. “Photography is a universal language”, says Aquin who is a self-taught photographer. It is a great educator, he adds. Through photography, we can understand what a war or Tsunami is? It has the power to move. It brings history to live to the future generations. It has the power to change society informed Aquin Mathews while welcoming the gathering.
There is a lack of exposure for photographers in India. Through this festival, we would like to bridge the gap says Aquin.
The Indian Photography Festival (IPF) - Hyderabad, is a Not-For-Profit initiative of Light Craft Foundation.
The festival features Senior photo editor of National Geographic Magazine, James Wellford; Armenian photojournalist, Anush Babajanyan, whose photography has been published in The New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic, Foreign Policy Magazine works and they will also speak at various forums during the festival.
The festival features other distinguished photographers who include Robin Schwartz, Fine Art Photographer; Rohit Chawla, former with India Today; Mark Edward Harris, Travel & Documentary Photographer; Tasneem Alsultan; Uzma Mohsin, Ismail Ferdous, Documentary Photographer; Prabhakar Kusuma; Vineet Vohra; Melissa Golden, Editorial Portrait & Documentary Photographer; Boris Eldagsen, Photo & Video Artist; Ritesh Uttamchandani; Enrico Fabian, Documentary Photographer; Giles Clarke, Photojournalist, Getty Images and Mahesh Shantaram from Agence VU
