The third edition of Indian Photography Festival (IPF), which will open on September 8 in Hyderabad, is bigger and hopes to be better than its previous years. From showcasing works of 200 photographers from 16 countries in 2015, the festival spreads its wings wider this time with 525 photographers from 40 countries.
Pitched as a non-profit initiative by the Light Craft Foundation in association with Telangana Tourism, the fest brings together images across a spectrum of genres, from portraits to landscape, abstracts to news photographs. The photo fest is built in collaboration with photo agencies across the globe to facilitate cultural exchange. “This helps our photographers, particularly from Hyderabad, to showcase their work abroad. Earlier this year a few photographers exhibited their work in Georgia, last year we took the work to Auckland and Sydney and we are in talks to showcase in Slovenia in addition to China,” says Aquin Mathews, festival director.
Selection for IPF is done by a panel of jury members that include photo journalists, established photographers and photo editors.
“To ensure fair selection while evaluating works of emerging photographers, the jury is shown the images without the names of the photographers to rule out bias. Selection is purely driven by quality,” says Aquin.
IPF also invites several established photographers from different countries to hold exhibitions, conduct workshops, photo walks, deliver guest lectures and evaluate portfolios. Among the delegates invited this year are Magnum photographer Stuart Franklin and National Geographic photographer Reza Deghati. While at the fest, watch out for prominent photographers such as Andrea Bruce, Sudharak Olwe, Natan Dvir, Kate Geraghty, Q Sakamaki, Cecilia Paredes, Prashant Godbole, Manoj Jadhav and Gurinder Osan.
A few of the exhibiting photographers like Helena Schatzle are showcasing images taken during their frequent visits to India or experiences after moving to the country in the last 10 to 15 years.
Stuart Franklin (of Magnum Photos) and Natan Dvir (of Polaris Images photo agency and Anastasia Photo Gallery) will be conducting workshops. “I happened to meet Dvir in Australia and his work is exceptional. When I travel to international photo fests, it becomes an opportunity to collaborate and invite reputed photographers to take part in our fest,” says Aquin.
Key exhibitions
Before it’s too late by Mathieu Willcocks (UK)
Landscape by Cecilia Paredes (Peru)
Philippines Drug Wars by Kate Geraghty (Australia)
Celebrity portraits by the photographers from Sydney Morning Herald
The Rescue by Francesco Giusti (Italy)
The Hungry Tide by Swastik Pal (India)
Empathy by Sudharak Olwe (India)
Head On Photo Festival (Australia)
Water by Hikari Creative — IPF Portrait Prize (India)
Venues: State Gallery of Art, The Gallery café, Srishti Art Gallery, Inorbit Mall, Goethe Zentrum, IIT Hyderabad, Saamanya Shastram, Shilparamam, Chowmahalla Palace, Lamakaan and Deja Brew Art Café.
IPF opens on September 21, 5pm, at State Gallery of Art, Kavuri Hills, Madhapur, and will continue till October 8. For a detailed schedule and to register for workshops, look up www.indianphotofest.com