Ekalokam Trust for Photography (EtP) in Wayanad, with head office in Tiruvannamalai, has launched the Artists Pledge Project, an initiative to support photo-artists during the COVID-19 pandemic .

“Jugaad Foto Bazaar (www.jugaadfotobazaar.com) is the country’s first online portal dedicated to buying and selling photographic prints,” says Tulsi Swarna Lakshmi, co-founder EtP, adding that an innovative solution was required to support photographers.

The platform started functioning last month and has works of renowned lensmen like Pulitzer awardee Nick Oza, fashion photographer Aditya Arya, Ramu Aravindan, Parthiv Shah and photo artist Abul Kalam Azad to name a few. Many new entrants are also showcasing their works.

Each work is sold for a flat rate of ₹5,000. If an artist sells five works then he/she is under obligation to purchase another artist’s work.

“We print works sent by the participants into high museum-quality prints and courier the work to the buyer. This costs about ₹1,250, which is deducted from sale price,” explains Tulsi. EtP began this initiative “to keep the self-respect and pride of a photographer”. In the coming months, EtP also plans to discuss topics like emerging crisis response plan for photographers and vulnerability assessment and plight of veteran artists with the Ministry of Culture.

Photographers can contact Ekalokam Trust at ekalokam@gmail.com, or Tulsi at 8754198512

With inputs from Priyadershini Sharma