The relentless Nila river threatens to swallow a house in Malappuram’s coastal area. A man is rushing out of the house bearing the leftover wooden window mantle on his shoulders even as he and his family try to escape the angry waves. The click which captures the helplessness of the family in the face of nature’s wrath evokes emotion in the viewer. The award-winning visual is one among the photographs which have been put up at Portfoli 2016, a photo-exhibition by photographers here. The exhibit was inaugurated by Excise Minister K Babu at the TDM hall here on Tuesday.
92 frames, frozen in time by professional photographers across media organisations in Kochi all have interesting stories to tell. Tales of sorrow like the one of the destruction in Nepal, happiness which includes festivals and celebrations in God’s own country and fame when Kerala Blasters waded their way through the Indian Super League have been captured in amazing detail by the third eye. Yesudas C V’s photograph narrates the tale of a lucky escape by a group of school children at Thoppumpady whose van caught fire moments after they were dropped at school.
There is the tale of the single-legged man who digs grounds to lay cables for a living. What may capture the curiosity of the visitor is the photograph of an old man, possibly a temple-goer, silently enjoying a heavy metal concert even as crowds of youngsters around him go wild as they enjoy their favourite music band. When photographer Nithin Krishnan visited the Kavadi festival commemorating the victory of Sri Muruga over Narakasura, he was shaken by the Shoolam piercing ritual of the devotees. Through his photograph, he has captured the image of a boy doubled up in fear and pain even as he is pierced by the favourite weapon of Sri Velayudah Swamy.
Also, funny captions scrawled under these photos capture the newsy moments that have altered the political history of Kerala and also led to huge debates on visual media. There are photos of Kathakali artistes, elephants resting in the Sholayar reserves and the moments caught on campuses displayed at the photo exhibition which will conclude here on January 1.