It’s time photography is recognised as a fine art in India

It was a field day for members of the Photojournalists Association of Bangalore (PJAB) at the Chitrakala Parishath where more than 120 photographs representing the many facets of human and animal life were displayed. One thing that struck me while looking at the photographs was how digital cameras have harmed the art of photojournalism. When I started my career with a leading national English daily in the late 80s, I was handed an Orwo, and Agfa-based black and white film by my senior Sarangapani, who asked me to cover 10 assignments, and to get the best pictures within the limited 36 frames.Well, more often than not, I landed up with some good pictures, but on some days, I failed miserably. In the old days, one could not preview images, like one can with the current digital cameras. Hence photographers were not sure if they had that 'page one' image until the film was processed.

'Only when the Indian government recognises professional photography as fine art, will the community get the respect they have been denied thus far'

But today, one has the ability to preview, edit and colour correct their images, which makes the present day fotog shoot first and decide later. The last and most important point I would like to make (and its one that I have beaten on about over the years) is that professional photography be recognised as a fine art. One may ask why? Why not! When countries from the US, to the UK and the Far East have accepted professional photography as a fine art form, why hasn't the Indian government done so? Only when the Indian government recognises professional photography as fine art, will the community get the respect that is due to it, and which they have been denied thus far. It is this community that has produced greats like S Paul, N Thiagarajan, Kishore Parekh, SN Sinha, Raghu Rai, Prashant Panjiar, Pablo Bartholomew, Sondeep Shankar and Hoshi Jal, to name but a few, who set the standard for younger fotogs to follow.

Photo Editor’s Verdict
I have visited and organised many a photo exhibition, but this one, organised by my old friend and president of PJAB, Mohammed Asad and his team, needed to be more assertive when it came to the selection of images for the final display. What a visitor to such an exhibition requires is that the exhibition should be short in viewing, but long in memory. That's something this exhibition lacks. But in the end it offers the public a glimpse into the art of the photojournalist, and that’s what matters most