See Chennai through the lens of school pupil
Smartphones were provided to them to capture their perspective about their surroundings, and a few were also allowed to take the mobiles home to take us to their world
Captured by Suhail
CHENNAI: As Chennaiites are enthusiastically celebrating the 384th birthday of Madras, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is conducting a photo exhibition at the Ripon Building. The exhibition, titled Akkam Pakkam, features works of school students across the city. The photography training was funded by GCC and the exhibition was funded by CITIIS project.
“CPB Prism is the education wing of Chennai Photo Biennale that focuses on lens-based education. We take photography classes throughout the academic year or based on the school’s schedule. We not only teach them, we also provide a platform for the students to exhibit their work during the completion of the course,” says Habiba Begum, programmes manager at CPB Prism.
Kavi Bharathi K’s work
Three schools were chosen by the GCC for Akkam Pakkam, and the students were trained for three months. The schools include CPS and CHS at Pulianthope, CGHSS Perambur, and Model School at Nungambakkam. Basics of photography like framing, and composition, among other nuances, were taught to the students, who belonged to classes 4, 5, 9, 11, and 12.
Smartphones were provided to them to capture their perspective about their surroundings, and a few were also allowed to take the mobiles home to take us to their world. Kiranmayi Veeramani, lens-based educator at the CPB Prism and the mentor who trained students of these three schools, says, “I wanted the students to learn that aesthetics is not photography, and wanted to empower them to tell their own story.”
Shot by Vignesh R
During the course of training, Kiranmayi realised that students’ perspectives are different from adults, “As an adult, I might perceive certain subjects in a negative view. But, the students were able to come up with positive stories from the negative subjects, which amazed me,” adds Kiranmayi.
As a part of the course, the students were taken on photo walks, both inside and outside the campus. The works displayed at the exhibition include their elements in school, nature, animals, insects, streets, and many others. More than 80 photos shot by 65 students are displayed at the Akkam Pakkam exhibition.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin on August 22 and is open for visitors till September 5 at the Ripon Building.