Delhi Photo Festival…Back for its Third Edition!

The biennial festival is India’s first that is dedicated to the art of photography. This year too, the Delhi Photo Festival promises to delight.

One of the most enriching experiences one can give themselves is attending the Delhi Photo Festival (DPF). An initiative of Prashant Panjiar and Dinesh Khanna of the Nazar Foundation, they are joined this year by Sumit Dayal, Sohrab Hura and Vidura Jang Bahadur to bring the best of photography from India and abroad to a platform accessible by everyone. After two successful editions, the festival is back and will be held at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) from 30 October to 8 November. Here is a preview of some of the exciting works that will be on display.

The Delhi Photo Festival is also inviting contributions to make the festival happen, you can do your bit here!

Kishor Parekh

Photograph/Kishor Parekh

Kishor Parekh was undoubtedly the revolutionary of photojournalism in India. In just a two week period in 1971, he produced a startling set of images that became a powerful book, statement and probably the most poignant record of the agonising birth of a new nation: Bangladesh.

Raghu Rai

Photograph/Raghu Rai

Raghu Rai’s previously unseen work is called, quite simply The Album. It contains pictures of his close family, extended family and near and dear ones that he photographed throughout his life. It promises to be a deeper into the personal life of one of India’s most prolific photographers.

The theme of last year’s festival was ‘Grace’, a tribute to the late Prabuddha Dasgupata. This year, photographers were invited to interpret the theme ‘Aspire’.

Abdollah Heidari

Photograph/Abdollah Heidari

Abdollah Heidari from Iran, documents young girls coming to terms with tragedy. Since 1997, there have been six devastating school fires across Iran, leading to deaths of students and teachers. These young girls suffer from depression at the loss of their dear ones. He captures their attempts at rebuilding their relationships through small intimacies like shaking hands, kissing, hugging or playing with their burned classmates.

Sarker Protick

Photograph/Sarker Protick

Dhaka’s film industry, Dhallywood, has enthralled since 1956, with its retelling of Bengali stories and legends. It releases over 100 films every year with over-the- top glamour, valiant heros and all the elements needed to thrill. Sarker Protick transports us to the glitzy sets of Love Me or Kill Me for a closer look.

DPF 2015 saw over 1200 individual submissions from across the world.

Karolin Klueppel

Photograph/Karolin Klueppel

The Khasi of Meghalaya are a matrilineal society, passing the line of succession through the youngest daughter in the family. This guarantees girls and women in Meghalaya a unique economic and social independence compared to India at large. German photographer Karolin Klueppel spent over nine months in the Khasi village of Mawlynnong photographing these young girls in their every day environment.

Scott Typaldos

Photograph/Scott Typaldos

Born in Switzerland, Scott Typaldos photographed insititutionalised men and women extensively. Titled Butterflies, his body of work tries to add a sense of freedom, and a radiant sense of being, to the plight of the individuals with mental conditions. Through his photographs he wishes to raise awareness about their condition and make them more understandable.

Michel Le Belhomme

Photograph/Michel Le Belhomme

Michel Le Belhomme breaks away from the traditional landscape format and stands ‘in conflict’ with it. His images float between documentation and fiction and through them, he makes the visible environment minimalistic and a breathtaking void.

Emanuele Satolli

Photograph/Emanuele Satolli

The border between Guatemala and Mexico is a stretch of over 800 kilometers long and remains open and unguarded. In a poignant examination of the human struggle for a better life, Emanuele Satolli photographs what an illegal immigrant chooses to carry, as they leave their lives behind.

The festival will also feature educational outreach programs like workshops for disadvantaged youths and children.

Angelica Dass

Photograph/Angelica Dass

Humanae, by Angelica Dass, is a work in progress, an attempt to deploy a chromatic inventory of all the different human skin colours that one comes about. This taxonomy makes use of PANTONE® guides, which provides a degree of hierarchical horizontality that contributes to dilute the false preeminence of some races over others in terms of skin colour.

Michael Drost-Hansen

Photograph/Michael Drost-Hansen

Michael Drost-Hansen documents the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine province, who have been exposed to something resembling ethnic cleansing. They now live in government-controlled prison-like camps just a few kilometers from their Michael Drost-Hansen former homes. Their only escape is in homemade boats across the Bay of Bengal.

Christian Werner

Photograph/Christian Werner

Christian Werner draws attention to the plight of the Yazidis, displaced by the invasion of the IS terrorist militia in Iraq. While men and boys are beheaded and shot, the women are abducted and sold at auctions as sex slaves.

For the first time this year, the Delhi Photo Festival will feature a special category for students. The best from 244 submissions from around the world will be on display

Md Farhad Rahman

Photograph/MD Farhad Rahman

Studying in Pathshala, South Asian Media Institute in Bangladesh, Md Farhad Rahman weaves a story of a fantasy world around a group of children near suburb of Dhaka—a world that was created by reclaiming water-bodies and was destined to stay in existence for just a few days. It will be transformed into a construction site, but until then it is the only remaining playground for the children.

Claudia Gori

Photograph/Claudia Gori

At the age of three, Camilla Nielsen was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. She is now 33 years old, and despite the physical weakness of her body she conducts herself with confidence. She lives with her boyfriend, Jesper, and three kids. Claudia Gori from the Danish School of Media and Journalism, Denmark documents her life.

Roger Anis

Photograph/Roger Anis

Roger Anis from the Danish School of Media and Journalism, Denmark, photographs Egyptian women and the clothes they would like to wear. Their closets in Egypt are full of repressed dreams… the clothes, accessories, and small items they hide, speak volumes about the harassment and the immense social pressure they go through. It might be funny to imagine women having to go through such stress to pick their outfit, but, in Egypt, it is a decision they have to take every day.

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