VS to Release Photography Manual of Former Aide

VS to Release Photography Manual of Former Aide
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KOZHIKODE: Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan will release a book on ‘Digital Photography’ at the Aluva Palace guest house on Thursday. And the author is the most unlikely person you would imagine - V K Sasidharan, the former additional private secretary of Achuthanandan, who was later sacked by the CPM leadership.

It sounds really odd but Sasidharan’s passion for photography emerged when he was studying in sixth standard in the late 60s. “It was an Agfa Click III box-type camera. For me, it was more like a toy but I had used it carefully. When I was in eighth standard, for the first time I could load a film roll inside it.

Till I lost the camera during my pre-degree days, I have clicked several images using it. “An active member of the photography club at the St Joseph’s College, Devagiri, the experiments in photography at the temporary dark room set up at the college along with physics teacher Sreedharan Master made me feel that I had become a professional,” Sasidharan, in his introductory remarks, describes his stint with the art of writing with light and colours.

It is not an encyclopedia on photography, Sasidharan said, “but a simple guide to those who wish to know about the basics of photography. A narration of my ignorance and the lessons learnt about photography put together in an orderly fashion, that’s all.”

“A majority of the people who buy a camera has the misconception that higher the mega-pixels better the quality of pictures. I too believed in that way because of the marketing hype. Mega-pixels matter, but it is only one element. Through the book, I share such tips for people to clear confusions and select the type of camera they actually need,” Sasidharan added. His passion towards photography had once resulted in opening a colour film studio at Pulamanthole in Malappuram district with the support of an NRI friend Abdul Rasaq. “At that time, colour photography had just emerged in theseplaces. The idea was to take colour pictures in the studio and process it in the Gulf. But, it did not succeed,” he said.

As Sasidharan became active in politics and the CPM-led Kerala School Teachers’ Association (KSTA), his passion towards photography gathered dust. Later, a discussion in connection with digitisation of registration documents in 2006-07 ignited his passion again. “By then, film cameras started to disappear with the revolution in digital photography. In the discussion, I had suggested something about the resolution of a digital camera. But, my presumptionwas completely wrong. Noted photographer Jayan, who attended the meeting, politely corrected the mistake. It was indeed a turning point. In fact, it started me thinking of penning such a guide,” added Sasidharan, who has a collection of various types of cameras ranging from the age-old box-type to the Digital SLR. Published by Knowledge India Publishers, Kozhikode, the 128-page book has 10 chapters on photography and a preface by K G Jayan.

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