KOCHI:The prefix ‘award-winning photographer’ would only be an ideal tag for Kochi-based Sushaman Kadavil. For, he has won over 90 awards, both national and state, in a career spanning over three decades. And, all these accolades and honours will gain a new meaning with Sushaman deciding to sell his prize-winning snaps for the cause of rebuilding Kerala.
The artist is organising a week-long photography exhibition cum sale at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady. The expo that will begin on September 30 will be inaugurated by author K R Meera.
“I have handpicked 30 works of mine, all award-winning images, to be put on display. The works will be sold and the money will be donated to flood relief work. This is my contribution to our state which suffered huge damage in the flood,” says Sushaman.
The price of the artworks starts from Rs 1,500. “I insisted on cheap rates to ensure saleability. Since the expo is planned in the university campus, students and teachers are my main connoisseurs. I don’t want to burden them,” says Sushaman.
The works to be put on display include ones from Sushaman’s photo series ‘Oil on Water’ (2013) and ‘Jalarekha’ (2008). “These images are my efforts towards unravelling the art behind photography. While working on these series, I wanted to break the conventions of photography prevalent then. My works froze a different facet of nature, something that resembled paintings,” he adds.
Both the series gained much attention and were selected by art students for project work. While ‘Jalarekha’ was studied by a UK-based student, ‘Oil on Water’ was a project material for a student in National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad.
A commercial photographer, Sushaman says he wasn’t “concerned about the artistic side” of photography until 15 years after he got smitten by the camera. “It took me long to know that there is an artistic side to it. But, like every other art, it takes time to evolve. That is one reason I don’t do photo series for the sake of it. There is something on my mind now, and I will soon work on it,” he adds.