What completes our graduation ceremony, anniversary and, most importantly, social media updates? What is that one thing that holds time?
It’s nothing other than photographs. Our lives today almost feel incomplete without clicking a picture of that hot sizzling plate of momos or capturing that beautiful summer extravaganza with a host of pals. And that with a bunch of memories which photographs hold against time making it a reason enough to celebrate the phenomena of photography altogether.
The World Photography Day is celebrated on August 19. It started back in 1837 in France when Frenchmen Louis Daguerre and Joseph Nicophere Niepee introduced the concept of daguerreotype, a photographic process.
Later in January 1839, the French Academy of Sciences disseminated the concept globally.
The French Government further went on to purchase the patent for daguerreotype; and on August 19 the same year, released it to the rest of the world heralding the phenomena of capturing moments.
The day was officially celebrated for the first time in 2010 by Australian photographer Korske Ara when he sold his Canon 5D Mark 2 to finance the start-up cost for organising a World Photo Day.
The Indian International Photographic Council, New Delhi under the guidance of its founder OP Sharma and other associates celebrate this day every year ever since then.
Today, photography has become an indispensable part of our lives. The World Photography Day is a celebration of all the committees which connect millions of people around the globe.
It aspires to bring in a positive change in the world. People across the world are celebrating 177 years of photography. Photography enables us to share the world as we see it.
Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving; and when you have captured that on a film, it stays forever. It is a reminder for all those little things that once had mattered immensely and have been forgotten over time. Photography is not just about seeing things behind a lens but also about how you are seeing it and how would you want the world to see it.
It’s an art honed through one’s cognition of the deeper intellect with perception and experience.
And the best part is it doesn’t end there. You are responsible for creating the perception you want for the viewers. But only the photographer holds the cue, the key to the actual reality.
It’s like freezing the sunrise in a box and illuminating it with a hue of tangerine to bring in the feel when the viewer sees it. The more a picture tells you, the lesser you know. Photography is an art of observation.
A good photograph is one that communicates facts while also touching the soul of the viewer. It should have the potential of changing the inherent perception of those viewing it. So, don’t shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like. Great photography is about depth of feeling, not the depth of field. A single still image has the potential to evoke and inspire all at the same time.
Photography is Truth.
(The writer is Chief Technical Officer (Photography), ICAR-National Rice Research Institute, Cuttack. e-Mail – prakashkar29@yahoo.co.in. Mob: 9439797924
