Indian Photography Festival All Set to Begin in Hyderabad

With an exciting lineup of Indian and international exhibits, the Indian Photography Festival promises to be a visual feast for everyone.

For the very first time, Hyderabad will witness a photography festival with several exciting exhibitions from India and abroad. The Indian Photography Festival (IPF) is an initiative of the Light Craft Foundation along with the Government of Telangana to showcase a wide range of photography, across various genres. Spearheaded by Aquin Mathews and joined by Chandrasekhar Singh and Swarat Ghosh, the festival promises to bring a range of interesting photography exhibits and activities. It will be held from the 1–10 October, 2015 at the State Art Gallery in Madhapur, Hyderabad.

Benjamin Lowy

DIWANIYAH, IRAQ – MARCH 12: A group of Iraqi teens watch, cheer, and jeer a passing American Army Humvee patrol convoy on March 12, 2008 in Diwaniyah, Iraq. (Photograph by Benjamin Lowy/Reportage by Getty Images)

Benjamin Lowy is an American photojournalist represented by Reportage by Getty Images, and is known for his work as a conflict photographer and a proponent of cellphone photography. Iraq | Perspectives was made from 2003 to 2008. It reflects a distant and detached perspective on life during the Iraq War. The windows of the Humvees represent a barrier that impedes dialogue.

John  Isaac

Photograph/John Isaac

John Isaac is an Indian-born, award-winning photographer and author who is known for his work as a photojournalist for the United Nations, where he documented over 120 countries and some of the most intense suffering of our times. He is also known for his independent freelance work, photographing celebrities. The Art of Seeing is a retrospective of John’s work over 45 years.

Russell Hart

Photograph/Russell Hart

Photograph/Russell Hart

Russel Hart is an award winning American fine art photographer and the former executive editor of American Photo magazine. He is also a leading faculty with various media schools and has authored several books on his work. The exhibition will show a collection of his fine art photographs.

Barbara Davidson

Photograph/Barbara Davidson

As a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times, Barbara Davidson won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for feature photography, and a National Emmy in multimedia storytelling, for her work on innocent victims trapped in the crossfire of deadly gang violence in Los Angeles. She also won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

Ilknur Can

Photograph/Ilknur Can

Photograph/Ilknur Can

An Istanbul-based street photographer, Ilknur Can was influenced by the iphoneography movement and continues her work in it. She created some seemingly timeless photographs using her iPhone and by using a vintage black and white app filter, she further blurred the distinction between the past and future.

Michael Chavez Robinson

Photograph/Michael Chavez Robinson

The Driest Seasons : The California Dust Bowl is a series of stories that the Los Angeles Times photographer Michael Chavez Robinson produced with reporter Diana Marcum in 2014. He photographed the plight of people amidst a devastating drought that continues to alter life in the Central Valley, California, USA.

Cheryl Diaz Meyer

Photograph/Cheryl Diaz Myer

Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist Cheryl Diaz Meyer is best known for her daring coverage of the Iraq War and her insightful documentation of women facing adversity across the globe. She covered the aftermath of the violence in Baghdad as a unilateral journalist. Life in a Baghdad Mental Hospital is about the Al Rashad Mental Hospital which has been ravaged by 300 people.

Marja Pirilä

Photograph/Marja Pirilä

A photographer from Finland, Marja Pirilä converted a room into a camera obscura and embarked on the embarking on the Interior/Exterior project. Here, she captured an image of a person, their room and the view from their window all at the same time. Over time, the pictures began to form not only their living environment but also an excursion into reflections of memories, reveries, fears and dreams.

Bandi Rajan Babu

Photograph/Bandi Rajan Babu

Among the many Indian pictorial photographers, one man who is distinct due to his style, versatility and mastery over photographic art and technique, is Bandi Rajan Babu. Born in 1939, his Nudes in Nature harmoniously blend his concept of expression of the sacredness of the human form with the beauty and spirit of divine splendour of nature.

Raja Trimbak Raj

Photograph/Raja Trimbak Raj

Photograph/Raja Trimbak Raj

Raja Trimbak Raj was the scion of a noble Maharashtra family of administrators, settled in Hyderabad. He gave up painting in favour of photography and learnt his craft in the 1920s and 30s, from England. This is an exciting look at work of one of India’s earliest pictorialists, more so because his work has never been exhibited before.

Ron Haviv

Photograph/Ron Haviv

Ron Haviv is an award-winning photojournalist and co founder of the photo agency VII, dedicated to documenting conflict and human rights issues around the globe. Children of Darfur seeks to show the daily, simple reality of life for Darfur’s children, not as ‘beneficiaries’ of aid, but as people whose characters, outlooks, physical natures, and futures are being, perhaps permanently, shaped by current events.

Other Attractions at IPF 2015

• Artist Talks
  These will feature photographers like Benjamin Lowy, Amit Mehra, John Isaac, Aditya Arya, Balan Madhavan, Russell Hart, Barbara Davidson, D Ravinder Reddy, Jaywant Naidu, Chinky Shukla, Ravi Reddy, Michael Monteiro and Samar Jodha amongst others.
• Satellite Exhibitions in Hyderabad
  There will be partner galleries around the city like NAFAU, Aliance Francaise, Salarjung Museum, Rainbow Art Gallery, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Muse Art Gallery, Shilparamam, State Museum, Taramati Baratari, KBR Park, Our Sacred Space, Gallery Cafe and others.
• Master Classes
  Russell Hart, John Isaac and Benjamin Lowy will be conducting a master class on the art of visual storytelling. Balan Madhavan will be conducting a workshop on wildlife photography. To enroll for these master classes, you can visit www.indianphotofest.com
• Evening Screenings
  One of the best things about a festival like IPF is the evening screenings. These will include various works of photography not included in the print exhibitions. Additionally, vistors will be able to watch documentaries and talks on photography.
• Photowalk with Benjamin Lowy
  Award-winning American photojournalist Benjamin Lowy will conduct a photowalk on one of days of the festival. He will take participants through unique image making on the streets. For more information, visit the IPF website.
• Portfolio Reviews
  Some of the biggest names attending the festival will conduct a portfolio review session at IPF. Photographers like John Issac, Russell Hart, Ben Lowy, Julia Durkins, Barbara Davidson, D Ravinder Reddy will critique and offer advice to those who enroll.
• That’s Life Collective
  One of the exhibitis at the IPF will feature That’s Life, a collective of street photographers who capture life on the Indian streets in a fresh and unusual manner and with humour. With a drive to photograph everything happening on the streets, That’s Life aims to promote the genre.
• Head On Portrait Prize Finalists
  The works of the finalists of the Head On Portrait Prize will be on display at the IPF. It is one of Australia’s most respected portraiture exhibitions and their judging panel was James Estrin, Susan Sedgwick, Bronwyn Rennex and Moshe Rosenzveig.
• Tales from Merwan’s
  The IPF will also see a talk by photographers Raj Lalwani (from BP) and Kashish Parpiani, who have extensively documented one of Mumbai’s iconic Irani cafes. The 100-year institution was going to shut until it got a new lease of life, with the conversation that the photos spurred.

You can find the Indian Photography Festival on their website and Facebook.