Photography can transcend socio-political and cultural barriers, allowing people to reimagine a healthier relationship with the natural world and challenge public and political perceptions, Suresh Jayaram, visual artist and art historian, said here on Friday.
He was delivering the keynote address at the inauguration of a photo exhibition organised by the National Institute of Advanced Studies at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath.
The pictorial story show titled — ‘But man is not made for defeat’ — displays images captured by Arjun Swaminathan, documentary photographer, and highlights the realities of climate change faced by farmers and fishermen in Kerala.
Jayaram noted that the exhibition captures the politics of caste and religion that play a decisive role in the lives of both the fishing and farming communities, intertwined with the challenges posed by climate change.
“While there is a lot of scientific data available on climate crisis, statistics and numbers alone cannot connect with people. Photography can really bridge that gap, and help visualise concepts and issues in ways that numbers are not able to,” he said.
The exhibition will be on at the Devaraj Urs Hall, Chitrakala Parishath, until July 24, a press release said.