KOZHIKODE:Proving yet again that pictures are worth a thousand words, all the news photographs exhibited at the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi art gallery convey the social or political situation of the time they were taken. Be it a catastrophe or a milestone in the political history or light moments, the major events in the history of the state and even that of the country captured by the lens of various news photographers across the state have been displayed at the exhibition organised in association with the state meet of the Senior Journalists’ Forum, Kerala.
From frames dating back to 1965, prominent among them are a photograph of Indira Gandhi driving a speed boat in Vembanad Lake during the first AICC meet that was held in Kerala captured by M K Varghese of Malayala Manorama, to that of the recent devastating earthquake in Kathmandu shot by Vipin Chandran of The Hindu have been included in the exhibition. Photos clicked by 21 photographers from various newspapers in the state have been incorporated in the expo.
“The exhibition is the product of the strenuous efforts that lasted for a period of nearly two months of collecting the photos from the newspaper offices and various photographers. It was really difficult to get the old photographs as we had included a section for shots that had been clicked fifty years ago and also that of eight photographers who are no more,” points out P Musthafa, a photographer who retired from Malayala Manorama, one of the organisers.
Photographs of Victor George, the then chief photographer of Malayala Manorama who was killed while taking the pictures of the landslide that hit Idukki have been given special display at the exhibition. Photographs of Rain clicked by Victor, the rescue operation carried out by the fire force during a fire break out in a building in Delhi are some of the news making photos that have been included in the exhibition.
Photographs marking important events such as the demolition of Babri Masid in 1992 by taken by P Musthafa, P T Usha and Shiny Wilson winning the gold and silver medal respectively at the Delhi Asian Games in 1989, a photograph of Musthafa showing the bodies of the victims of the Chakri Dadri mid-air collision, etc are also displayed.
Photographs on the social situation that prevailed in the past have also been exhibited. A photograph clicked by Musthafa taken for The Indian Express shows a lady engaged in manual scavenging in Kozhikode, a photo shot by K Aravindan of Malayala Manorama shows social activist K Ajitha with the policemen in front of the station after she was arrested for the Pulpally police station naxalite attack are also on display.
Other rare moments which have been frozen for eternity are Prime Minister Morarji Desai at Kovalam beach during his Kerala visit (photo clicked by M K John of Malayala Manorama), the award winning photo by Choyikutti of Madhyamam daily of a mother giving glucose to her infant child while walking along side the protesters during a Medical protest, an elephant saluting the then Chief Minister E K Nayanar (photo clicked by Jeevan Jose of The New Indian Express) also hold the visitors in awe.
The exhibition was inaugurated by P T Usha and K Ajitha on Wednesday and will be on till Sunday.