Every month, on a Sunday morning when the whole city is quiet, a bunch of enthusiastic people start a journey to capture some of Chennai’s most beautiful and interesting sights.
The Chennai photowalk was started by Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan in 2007. The walk involves visiting some of Chennai’s most historic areas and photographing them. This heritage walk, which takes place every month, covers a different route each time, making it a unique experience for those who participate.
The photowalk started when Gopalakrishnan decided to walk the streets of Madras to document the city’s life and history. The group believes that there’s no better way to capture changing urban landscapes than walking a distance and capturing all that one can.
Varun Shridhar, a member of the walk, explains what exactly they do. “A location is decided and is announced through the group’s Facebook page. We all get to the starting point ahead of time and kick off the walk after having coffee from nearby. We move about in random packs, though as individuals, we are free to walk however slowly we want, paying attention to detail and capturing it.”
The walk takes place on the second or third Sunday of every month and around 15-20 people join in every time. When a location is easy to get to such as Mylapore, the turnout is more than 30. He said that was not just about walking but also about learning new things. He cites an example, “We all know Armenian Street but no one knows about a road parallel to it, St Coral Merchant Street, where most of south India’s lungis are made.”