Various aspects of photography and its relevance in this era were discussed at ‘Light writing - the photographic image reloaded’ — a two-day international conference that was inaugurated at the Government Museum, Egmore, on Saturday.
The conference is being held as part of the month-long Chennai Photo Biennale, organised by the CPB Foundation and the Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan along with The Hindu.
Y.S. Alone, art historian, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, elaborated on the lives of sanitary workers and persons of the Dalit community through the works of two photographers based in Mumbai and Chennai — Sudharak Olwe and Arun Vijai Mathavan. The images tell the story of apathy towards sanitary workers in Mumbai. Mr. Mathavan’s works, titled ‘Millennia of oppression, the work of caste in the world of death’, showcased how Dalits had to handle dead bodies during autopsy, Mr. Alone said.
Combat photography
Other speakers — including T. Shanaathanan, artist and archivist from Jaffna and Zhuang Wubin, writer and curator, Singapore — discussed combat photography during the Sri Lanka and Vietnam wars and how they contributed to the documentation of violence.
Helmut Schippert, director, Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, said Chennai Photo Biennale aimed to create a public dialogue on the art of photography.