Capturing it right
HYDERABAD: Indian Photography Festival (IPF) Photographer of the Year Awards that take place annually in Hyderabad in September by participants from over 85 countries over the world had two photographers who bagged the accolades from the city. CE catches up with Vamshidhar Reddy, who bagged an award for wedding photography and Rama Veeresh Babu, who got the prize for landscape photography.
Most wedding photographers wait to capture moments of joy during a wedding. Nevertheless, city-based photographer Vamshidhar Reddy panders to the schmaltz that is dominant in the now very competitive industry. He has captured an image of a crying father, which lead him to bag the 3rd prize at IPF 2022.
“For me, weddings are everything in photography; I started as a wedding photographer in 2018 and worked for several big brands in Hyderabad. Later I started my brand in august 2022. I love the part about meeting new people and creating everlasting emotions through my pictures,” says Vamshidhar Reddy.
“The photo was shot for one of my first clients when I started my own wedding company, it was the first wedding in the firm, and the client’s mom recently passed away, and they were very emotional. I could see how hard it was for her father to let his little girl into another family.
I could see him tear up many times during the wedding and at the time of departure at the end of the wedding (apaginthalu) as it’s called. She grabbed his kurta, which led him to burst out in tears,” the photographer said, describing his award-winning photograph.
Rama Veeresh Babu, who bagged the 3rd prize in landscape photography, first participated in IPF in 2015; but did not bag the award; later in, in 2022, as he says, “I got nominated and shortlisted for the landscape award, and bagged it. I took a photograph at Bear Lake, the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, United States, reflecting yellow leaves of the fall season.”
The exhibition of competing and award-winning photographs commenced a fortnight ago and will continue until September 29 at the State Gallery of Art, Madhapur.