Accentuating art of photography

In an attempt to promote sustainable development with the theme of ‘Panchatattava’, India Habitat Centre conducted Habitat Photosphere awards 2016. The event is a part of the year-long photography festival Habitat Photosphere, curated and conceptualised by the art historian Dr Alka Pande. Four applicants were selected among hundreds of applicants namely Harikrishna Katragadda, Monica Tiwari, Shraddha Borawake and K R Sunil. The winners were announced on Saturday at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) in the national Capital. 

The jury comprised of eminent photographers – Bandeep Singh, Parthiv Shah, Aditya Arya and Prabir Purkayastha – judged the participants on the basis of innovation of idea, craft, technical skill compounded with relevance to the theme. They went through a rigorous procedure of debating and discussing each application to select the final four winners. Each winner will be awarded a monetary grant of Rs 2 lakh to create a body of work on the theme of sustainable development. 

The works of these four awardees will be exhibited in a month-long exhibition at the India Habitat Centre in December 2016. Each of the four photographers will be mentored through the next eight months by Aditya Arya, Bandeep Singh, Prabir Purkayastha and Parthiv Shah. For the exhibition, Harikrishna Katragadda plans to travel to the cities and towns along the Ganges, which have high concentration of leather and metal industries, and the burning ghaats of Benaras. He said, “I am interested in portraits of people, animals and various life forms affected by pollution. The aim is to present the photographic image of the landscape it represents.”

Monica Tiwari aims to document the lifestyle changes caused due to migration. “My project aims to focus on the challenging, uncertain, and heartbreaking journeys undertaken by the parents who migrate, and especially focusing on the children and the elderly who are left behind in their native lands”, said Monica. 

Shraddha Borawake will be working towards an installation-based project while K R Sunil aims to document the fast-disappearing ponds in various parts of Kerala.