OP, the man who started it all

Today, the world celebrates World Photography Day, but few actually know where the seeds of the day were sown. In fact, it was an Indian photographer based in New Delhi, OP Sharma (fondly known as OP) who was the man instrumental in getting over 150 photography clubs and associations across the globe to celebrate August 19, as the birthday of photography.
All through the year, all over the world, holidays and birthdays are celebrated. However, no one ever designated a day for photography; until OP came along. From research work and entertainment, to documentation and art, photography is everywhere.World Photography Day was launched in 1991 by the Indian International Photographic Council (IIPC) of which OP Sharma is the founder member. Later, in 2002-03, the Photographic Society of America (PSA) with its multitude of members across the world, joined in and also started to observe August 19 as Photography Day. The first official photograph ever taken was on August 19, 1839. Photography was arguably one of the most important inventions of the 19th Century. Had this unique medium not been invented, our world would have been much darker than it is today. Let us not forget this fact and let World Photography Day see light! As for the news photographers working in modern-day newspapers, their task is often tedious, sometimes life-threatening (as in covering a war zone, or tracking a flu pandemic), but it is also always rewarding.
The photographer stakes his life on every image; especially the one that you, the reader, see every morning. Photography has grown manifold over the past 170 years, and today every family in the world has a picture adorning a wall or a shelf in their home. The medium is such that everyone can become professional, thanks to the advent of the digital camera. The future will see further enhancements in photo technology, but whatever it may bring, one thing will remain unchanged: The emotions one feels when one looks at a photograph. So this World Photography Day, sit back, take out an old family album and let your mind wander through its memories. After all that’s what photography is all about: capturing history as it happens. On a footnote, it is important to stress that photography is an art, and as such, it’s high time the Government of India recognises it as a fine art. After all, capturing emotions takes a level of skill.

THE STATE’S IN PLAY

WHERE HAS ALL THE POLITICAL COLOUR GONE?
It’s turned out to be the dance of democracy. Yes, the biggest pop show in the world has become listless. For years I have covered numerous election at both local and national levels, and they've always proved to be colourful and exciting. But things are changing. Over the years, the Chief Election Commission has tightened the screws on candidates' expenditures. This has, in turn, robbed the photojournalist, or fotog, of the nuances and quirks of campaigns. We have been forced to delve deeper into politics to find those defining images newspapers desperately clamour for. What differentiates a good political fotog from the rest of the snap-happy mob is timing: Those seconds as he lines up the perfect frame; the frame that showcases the mood; the frame that leaves no space for the editor's ego to crop the image. In the past, a fotog had the fanfare and festive atmosphere of the trail to use as props. Paintings, posters, banners have now gone, leaving a rather stark canvas. Today's Pic Me Up covers the campaign in places like Mangalore,Mysore et al, and DNA's fotogs have managed to capture the colour of an election that takes me back to the days of poll pomp.
So, here's my two bytes:Remember that every time you cut back on poll expense, you hit fotogs as well. The lack of colour and vibrancy will leave us bereft of that image that personifies our democracy. It will drain the poll of entertainment