Etching history in frames

KOCHI:“Don’t forget Aleppo. Don’t forget Syria!” shouted Turkish police officer Mevlut Mert Altintas after assassinating Russia’s ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov at an art gallery in Ankara. The moment was captured by photographer Burhan Ozbilici. This along with a vast collection of photographs capturing the horrors of war, refugee crisis and aftermath of natural calamities, among others, was part of the International Press Photo fest which concluded on Sunday in the city. Iconic frames etching history were among the exhibits at the second edition of the fest organised by Media Academy and Information and Public Relations Department.

Photographs by noted photographers Nick Ut drew the crowd with their powerful depiction of the horrors during the Vietnam War. The iconic ‘Napalm girl’ photograph by Nick Ut which was instrumental in changing the perspective of the world about the Vietnam war welcomes you in. Other arresting frames capturing the human calamities induced by the Vietnam war by the master photographer and those captured by Los Angeles Times photo editor Raul Roa is just the start of an odyssey through the landmark moments in history.

On display are snaps that continue to tug at the heart like that of a vulture waiting to prey upon a malnourished child during famine in Sudan; that of armed federal agents storming in and discovering six-year-old Cuban boy Elain Gonzalez-who had recently defected from Cuba- in the closet of the home of Elian’s great-uncle Lazaro Gonzale in Miami; a loggerhead sea turtle entangled in a fishing gear and swimming in the northeast Atlantic ocean; or the many heart wrenching pictures from the war-ravaged zones.

Pulitzer prize-winning photographs, pictures winning the ‘World Press Photo of the Year’ and those captured by women photojournalists chronicling the different political chapters in Indian history gave a unique experience to the citizens.

“This is a rare exhibition and is indeed an eye-opener. Watching all these frames help give an insight to us on the grievous problems confounding humanity. We have progressed this far, but the plight of humanity is still the same. It is extremely saddening,” said Narayanan, a retired bank manager who had decided to check out the exhibition while on his visit to the city.

Pictures captured by India’s first woman photojournalist Homai Vyarawalla; three-time Pulitzer Prize and Emmy award winning photojournalist Barbara Davidson; Saraswati Chakravarthy; Sipra Das are some of the noted exhibits.

Some of the snaps also drew curious remarks from the visitors. “It is a pretty interesting list of photographs. But what I cannot understand is what these photographers were doing capturing those frames when they could have intervened,” said Murukesh Subrahmaniom, a faculty at ISRO’s Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST).

A collection of photographs by the photojournalists from across the state was also exhibited. Along with tension gripping pictures, frames capturing lighter moments such as a mouse on his hind legs staring intently as a cat looks down upon it were also on display. Apart from this, the exhibition also included frames capturing interesting moments in Kerala politics and the national political scenario.

Iconic frames etching history were among the exhibits at the second edition of the International Press Photo fest in Thiruvananthapuram. The exhibition also included frames capturing interesting moments in Kerala politics and  the national political scenario