Shutterbugs in sunlight

Picture perfect

The mundane act of a man serving ‘chai’ to a white-collar worker or a ‘pourakarmika’, cleaning the street to earn her daily bread, is frozen when a photographer captures such moments on the lens. 

 Photographers in the City captured myriad shades and documented vibrant hues of Bengaluru recently in a photowalk organised by ‘Campus Diaries’ and ‘Pixelscapes’.

Be it through their high-end DSLR cameras or simple mobile phones, budding and enthusiastic photographers brought out the streets of Bengaluru through the eyes of a shutterbug in sunlight.

The contour of the City came alive as camera-lovers captured pictures such as the hustle and bustle of people running to work, shutters of shops rolling up as ‘dukaanwallas’ were ready to start their day, kids hob-nobbing in Cubbon Park, the potpourri of emotions prior to the Republic Day and buildings boasting of architectural beauty. The photowalk was conducted to portray India in contrast to what is generally perceived as; an unhygienic country, stricken with poverty.

The walk started near Victoria Statue, Cubbon Park, near Commercial Street. The organisers for the Bengaluru chapter were Prabhakar and Skanda. Prabhakar, who is a part of a team of photographic enthusiasts called ‘Shutterbugs’ said that they were looking to organise  a few eye-catching events and thus the idea of a photowalk sprang up.

 “The planning stages for this event started on December 29 and we started gathering people from January 18. The objective of this event was to provide an opportunity for different photographers from the City to meet so that they can improve their knowledge in photography and share helpful tips. The theme for the event was ‘Streets of Bengaluru in Sunlight’. People loved the photowalk and we received a good response this time.”

Immense amount of talent was displayed by the photographers as pictures of every colour, size and shape spoke of a million stories.

As word-of-mouth and social media stirred up the event, about 40 people turned up on the day to capture the high-points of streets that generally go unnoticed.

   The participants were guided by their mentors through the entire photowalk and now have an opportunity to contribute their pictures to ‘Campus Diaries’ and each participant also received certificates towards the end of the event.

Prabhakar adds, “The best part about photography is that it captures time which never comes back. The picture is unique to that moment and the space to when it is captured.”
   The photowalk also took place in cities like Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai.  A photograph, after all, is in one’s eye and is a point of view.

Through the plethora of pictures and the number of memories and activities the photographers managed to freeze; each city had a story to tell.