World Photography Day 2022: Naga’s diverse culture through the lens

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Aug. 19 (EMN): Photographers from across Nagaland and beyond retold the stories of Nagas’ diverse culture through their lens, captivating the onlookers with their telling photos on the occasion of World Photography Day, on Friday.

A photography exhibition and competition on the theme ‘I, Naga’, was organised by the Photography Club Kohima (PCK) at D/Café, Kohima on Friday, displaying a total of 98 varieties of images (competition and exhibition combined).

“We chose culture to highlight our (Naga) rich cultural heritage but it turns out to be one of the most difficult subjects. It (culture) is all around us. But when we actually went into photographing and collecting, we found out that it is not easy,” said Velukho Nakro, General Secretary of PCK.

The reason, he said, owes to the diversity and richness of Naga culture that overwhelms the participants and the organisers alike. “It was a big learning curve for us,” he said, adding that he was impressed by the quality and variety of photos received for the competition and exhibition.

A total of 34 participants, including nine for exhibitions and 25 for competitions from Nagaland, Manipur and Kolkata participated in the second edition of World Photography Day.

The photographs exhibited were theme-based in the form of Naga houses, churches, and buildings; landscapes of sceneries, sunset, sunrise, urban and rural landscapes; portraits of candid, posed, artificial lighting, and so on. There were also some macro photographs, he said.

‘The idea is to bring together the photographers and help each other out. There are a lot of photographers; particularly the upcoming ones have their own share of struggles connecting with clients or trying to upgrade their business. In that respect, the club aims to assist each other in whatever way it can and connect the upcoming ones to a bigger platform. If they are looking for institutions, the club can help them establish connections with academies and institutions. The club plans to conduct workshops, seminars and outdoor activities in the coming days. For now, it started with a membership drive,’ he added.

Col. Ranjit Singh, Indian Army posted in Jakhama, said that North East and Nagaland are “poorly understood by the people of the mainland”, while calling upon the photographers to be brand ambassadors through their works and to integrate through visual expressions.

In photography competition, Rajkumar Joyshankar Singh won the first prize, Vilieme Kuotsu and Likao Kinghen won the second and third place respectively, while Pelevizo Meyase won the People’s Choice Award.