YPS Event | Oct 5 – 7, 5:45 PM | Venkatappa Art Gallery

YPS is pleased to announce Special Event from 5 to 7, October,  5:45 PM to 8:30 PM at Venkatappa Art Gallery to celebrate Wildlife Week.

Wildlife Week will be celebrated between October 2nd & 8th all over India. Youth Photographic Society plans to celebrate the Wildlife Week as follows:

• A  Wildlife Photography Contest for Photographers from Karnataka was organized under 3 sections – Wildlife, Birds & Macro. The winners of each section, Wildlife, Birds & Macro, will be awarded on October 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.
• A Slideshow & Talks by Top Photographers on each day from October 5th to October 7th combined with Award Function.
• Participation by special guests connected with Wildlife Photography on all 3 days.

About the Speakers

 Hari Somashekar takes you on a thrilling journey through the diverse landscapes of the Indian sub-continent, behind the lens. A conservationist at heart, Hari’s story is truly inspiring. His passion for wild life conservation is deep rooted and goes back to his days as a child. Having grown up around the forest areas of Karnataka, Hari travelled through The Sandur Reserve Forest every day to make it to school as a child. Sightings of a plethora of wild species in these parts were not uncommon, developing his passion at an early age. In spite of his deep rooted passion, Hari spent several years of his career as a hotelier in the city of Bangalore. After 8 long years, he was finally inspired, realizing his true calling. From taking home a six figure salary to volunteering under his mentor Sanjay Gubbi, the challenges Hari faced were manifold. It was here that he acquired the knowledge he needed to fulfil that childhood dream. During his tenure here, he played an important role in advocating petitions such as the night closure of the national highways that pass through the forests of Bandipur, the Gundia Hydro Electric Project, and many more. In the two years he spent as a volunteer, Hari made several visits to the Tiger Reserves in India studying them, learning about conservation, and working on out-reach and educational programs. On these visits, he witnessed the beauty of India’s flora and fauna, inspiring him to buy his first camera. In just over two years, Hari moved on to become the Honorary Wild Life Warden for Bangalore, Rural District, giving him the opportunity to further pursue his love for wild life photography. By the year 2012, Hari was offered a position to become the State Director for an international wild life NGO in Karnataka. Accepting this incredible offer, he maintains his position at the NGO till date working on conservation projects and out-programs across the state. Hari’s free time is spent doing what he loves most. Photography. Travelling through the forests of India every chance he gets, he has acquired an extra-ordinary portfolio, covering a variety of species. From reptiles to birds, Hari focuses on documenting species that are endangered, brining about awareness of their existence and need for conservation. he uses his technical excellence in photography as a powerful medium to make a difference in wild life conservation in India. He is currently focusing on the magnificent Himalayan region in Northern India.

 R Anantha Murthy has always been fascinated by the wildlife. It all started when he was just 8-years-old when his father took him to watch the movie, Hatari, a film completely based in Africa. Since then, it has been his dream – to visit Africa. Its wildlife that got him first, photography happened much later.

Only after a wildlife trip with his friend, a photographer,  he was  intrigued by the art of photography. Though he was using a basic DSLR back then, a few moments in the forest with a camera is all it took to get him hooked for life. Though he still continues to work as an executive with an insurance company, photography is more than just a passion for Anantha.

An avid birder today, he travels looking for specific species of birds across the world. Places include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Goa, and Tamilnadu. He has been exploring and visiting forests in Karnataka (his home town) frequently. He has also visited Kenya: Lake Naivasha, Lake Nakuru and Masai Mara.

A lot of Murthy’s work has been published in NGC Traveller, and BNHS book of Birds of Maharashtra. Five bird images captured by him have been printed as greeting cards by BNHS for the year 2015. 

Wildlife and wildplaces has always inspired Murthy. But besides it being a personal passion, his objective of photographing birds, especially rare species is mainly to document and maintain a proper record of its migration, habitats and threats. He wants to contribute and support nature and wildlife conservation through his work.

 Hayath Mohammed is a Technical Architect from IT Industry by profession and a nature enthusiast by passion. He grew up in the developing Bangalore and yet had access to some fabulous places rich in Flora and Fauna. Most of his summer holidays during childhood were spent chasing butterflies, exploring various kinds of insects. The chase is still in progress. A keen interest in native fish of our land, has helped document new species for describing. He is Interested in all genres of photography. Nature photography, especially Macro has been his passion for many years. He enjoys showcasing beauty that the naked eyes cannot see!

Wildlife Week

In the year 1952 with a view to preserve the fauna of India, particularly to take urgent steps to prevent extinction of any species, the Government of India established an Indian Board of Wild Life (IBWL).  The Board has since been doing pioneering work to arouse public consciousness in favour of wildlife preservation.

From time immemorial, our wildlife has been closely associated with our legendary beliefs and our folklores, with our epics and our history. Our lives would be very much poorer without these varied forms that build up the balance of nature. Wildlife preservation in fact implies active and planned wildlife management under which all forms of life would progress side by side with human progress, each in its own sphere of influence and utility and without any detriment to human interests. In fact, it is with this end in view that wildlife sanctuaries and national parks have been established and developed in suitable localities all over the country.

In order to arouse a general awakening in the common man in favour of protection of wildlife, the Indian Board of Wild Life (IBWL) decided to observe the Wildlife Week and since then from October 2 – 8 every year organize different activities related to wildlife conservation to commemorate this week.

Every year around this time (October 2 to 8) governments, environmentalists, activists, educators organize different activities to accelerate the awareness of wildlife conservation among people. India, being a mega-storehouse of various species, is also able to manage several conferences, awareness programmes, and public meetings among the nature lovers. Schools and educational institutions organize events such as wildlife related movie screening, painting competition/essay writing/ debate competition for young children with wild life as the theme.

Bangalore has the largest community of Wildlife Photographers. To celebrate wildlife and its conservation, YPS will be celebrating Wildlife Week with a function from 5 – 7 October 2018.

YPS Executive Committee