CHENNAI: Walking into the Lalit Kala Akademi, observing the walls adorned with photos, was nothing less than a time travel. Glimpses of Madras, struggles of the city’s residents during the water crisis, excitement at the Kumbakonam Mahamaham... moments have been frozen, framed, and now celebrated.
“The Chennai floods, the difficulties during the pandemic, Kalaignar Karunanidhi’s protests, his funeral procession, Kanimozhi’s childhood pictures, and the more recent ones — we have featured a lot of rare pictures. This is like a festival which celebrates moments in history,” shared Shiba Prasad Sahu, photo editor, TNIE.
And it is their art of storyteling through pictures that spoke directly to the visitors. Thanks to the efforts of The Tamil Nadu Press Photographers Association (TNPPA), this one-of-a-kind exhibition tugs at the hearts of Chennaiites, we sensed at the venue. Even though the idea of conducting an exhibition had been in the works since the inception of TNPPA in 2006, it became a reality only now.
The current 145 members collected the photos from photojournalists, even those of late and retired photographers, in six months. “We received more than 1,000 entries. A three-member panel including LR Shankar from Times Of India, Murugaraj from Dinamani, and me was formed to choose the pictures,” shared R Satish Babu, chief photojournalist, TNIE. More than 240 photos were categorised into politics, sports, general, emotions, offbeat, message-oriented, and events.
Frames in history
A picture of the happy faces of photojournalists clicked on September 13, 2006, when TNPPA was inaugurated by former chief minister M Karunanidhi along with governor Surjith Singh Barnala at Raj Bhavan, greets visitors. Next in line are the images of the city and its political happenings, almost five decades ago. C Rajagopalachari greeting M Karunanidhi, Congress leader K Kamaraj welcoming Indira Gandhi at the airport, a tumultuous reception for former chief minister CN Annadurai at the airport, were a few photographs that opened up the window to the past.
The sports section celebrates moments of adrenaline rush and serves as a tribute to the legends. EK Sanjay of the Deccan Chronicle explained one of his most treasured photographs — Sachin Tendulkar’s last match. “I didn’t go for an assignment to Wankhede Stadium, instead went due to my personal interest, spending money from my own pocket to get a glimpse of the cricket legend. The image was captured on November 16, 2013,” commented Sanjay, pointing to the image of Sachin being carried on the shoulders of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.
Amid the moments of victory lay the hardships and realities that Chennaiites went through over the years. A woman carrying her son in a bucket after collecting water from a water tanker depicted the 2019 water crisis. A few other images spoke about the intensity of the issue including the Day Zero declaration, the day when all the four main reservoirs supplying water to the city had run dry. Autorickshaws carrying oxygen cylinders to patients’ doorsteps, the abandoned streets during the lockdown, and the doctors and people in their masks portrayed the Covid era.
The photojournalists also spoke about the challenges they had to face while clicking such pictures during unfortunate times. “During the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital fire in 2022, the photographers reached the spot before a lot of the rescuers. Only a few vehicles of the fire department were there. So the photographers on the spot stepped in and helped in the process. During such incidents, we might not know what is happening. Only after going to the location will we figure out the seriousness,” said Kumaresh from Nakkheeran.
Reflecting perspectives
To lighten the mood, there are pictures of people, animals and other amusements of nature that convey a plethora of emotions. A chicken taking its chicks under the wings to save them from the monsoon rains in Hyderabad, few villagers watching a movie in the tentu kotta, one of the last surviving tent talkies are rare images that invoke one’s curiosity.
Even though there are a variety of pictures, every picture has a certain news value, noted Satish. “As a photojournalist, every photo should give news. It should tell a story to the observer,” he added. The exhibition also became an opportunity for the photographers to interact with the photo enthusiasts. Senior principal photojournalist from TNIE, P Jawahar, said, “Most of the photos displayed were published ones. Even though they are in the archives, we forget the images after a day or two. But through this exhibition, we had the opportunity to look back at the images we had clicked. Through this display our works get good exposure.”
The members hope to conduct the exhibition in the upcoming years considering the positive response from the viewers. “After the exhibition was inaugurated by chief minister MK Stalin, we received a lot of visitors, including politicians, students and photography lovers. Pondicherry University has asked us to display these collections at their hall. We are yet to decide on that. We also want to conduct a photography contest and launch a website,” concluded Jothi Ramalingam, president TNPPA.