YPS Event | Aug 20 & 21 | Exhibition
Youth Photographic Society Bengaluru organized a Two-Day Exhibition of Landscape and Cityscape Pictures of Members on August 20 & 21 at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. The Exhibition was organized to celebrate World Photography Day which fell on August 19th. 112 Pictures from 35 members were on display at the exhibition. More than 250 art lovers visited the Exhibition during the two days.
Getting Ready
Preparations for the Exhibition started a month ahead when YPS announced the date of the exhibition and requested members to submit Landscape and Cityscape pictures for display at the exhibition. Activities intensified after the Independence Day when the YPS Executive Committee and member volunteers met a few days at YPS to get all the Boards ready with pictures properly mounted and tagged with names and captions.
By noon on August 20, the pictures were mounted and the exhibition was ready for visitors. An added attraction was one-line poems in Kannada written by member Bhagya D which were also on display with the pictures.
Inaugural Function
The function was inaugurated by two famous personalities from the field of cinematography, Sri. S K Bhagawan, Chief Guest and Sri. B S Basavaraju, Guest of Honour. The function was inaugurated by Sri. S K Bhagawan cutting the ribbon on the panel of pictures on display at the Exhibition.
The guests then stopped at every panel and appreciated the work done by the members and also discussed the pictures with the member present.
Satish also took the guests to the display of pictures from members being honoured at the function and explained how they served YPS and art of photography.
The inaugural function started with lighting of the lamp by Sri. Satish, President YPS, Sri. Bhagawan, Chief Guest, Sri. Basavaraju, Guest of Honour and Sri. Surya Prakash, Secretary, YPS.
Invocation Song was sung by Ms. Savitha and the whole Inaugural function was compered by member Ms. Mamatha Srivathsa.
After the lamp lighting YPS President, H Satish addressed the 75+ members and others who had assembled for the Inauguration Function. In his speech he welcomed the guests and delegates and explained the significance of World Photography Day and YPS’ commitment to advance the art of photography. There were many distinguished guests in the event including Sri. M S Hebbar, Sri. Allama Prabhu, Dr. Harinarayana, Mr. Nagesh and Mr. H V Praveen Kumar.
The Chief Guest was Sri. S K Bhagawan (fondly known as Dorai Bhagawan), a veteran film director, producer and actor well known in Kannada Cinema. Along with Dorairaj, another director with whom he paired to direct films as Dorai-Bhagawan, he was one of the earliest directors to direct James Bond style movies in Kannada. During his career, he directed more than 30 movies acted by leading actors like DrRajkumar and Sri. Ananth Nag.
In his address Sri. Bhagawan appreciated the founders who named the society as Youth Photographic Society as both the art and the artists always remain young.
The Guest of Honour for the function was Sri. B S Basavaraju, an eminent cinematographer who worked with many leading directors in Kannada and Tamil industry. He won Karnataka State Film Award as Best Cinematographer in 1982-84 for his work in the film Amrutha Ghalige directed by Sri. Puttanna Kanagal. He worked in more than 50 Kannada films and many more Tamil films with leading directors/actors like Bhakyaraj.
In his speech he appreciated the work done by YPS in promoting the art of photography and was all praises for the members who submitted such great pictures.
Honouring of Members
After the Inaugural Speech it was time for conferring the honour of Honorary YPS on members of YPS in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the Art of Photography and to YPS through their personal achievements and through meritorious services.
Sri. T S Srinivasa Rao – Hon. YPS
Sri. Chandrashekar, Treasurer of YPS read out the citation for Sri. Taradakuppe Sitharama Rao Srinivasa Rao, YPS Life Member LM-008 even as Srinivasa Rao was felicitated by Sri Bhagawan and Sri Basavaraju with garland, shawl, fruit bowl and a memento.
Sri. Srinivasa Rao was born on September 5, 1942. His dedication and meticulous practice of the Art have brought him name and fame in the Photographic world. He took to Art of photography as a Hobby early in his life. During 1965 he was inspired by his brother and brother in law to do Bird photography. In 1980’s, he attended YPS Beginner’s Refresher Course and later became a committee member of YPS. He also held the positions of Jt. Secretary and Treasurer during his tenure. His immense dedication and contributions to the holding of YPS All India and International Salons led the way to their success. He was also part of the FIP Convention organized by YPS.
He had participated in many National and International Salons and won over 45 acceptances in Nature Prints, 15 acceptances in Slides and a FIP Honorable Mention.
In 2001, along with his good friends, he started a photography color lab, catering to all professional and amateurs, and he continues to do so, helping many youths to get their best prints made.
Sri. Md. Arfan Asif – Hon. YPS
Sri. Chandrashekar, Treasurer of YPS read out the citation for Sri. Mohammed Arfan Asif, YPS Life Member LM-050. Asif’s father collected the honours on behalf of Asif who is presently in Dubai. The felicitation was done by Sri Bhagawan and Sri Basavaraju with garland, shawl, fruit bowl and a memento.
Md. Arfan Asif’s hidden interest towards photography grew since school days in Baldwin Boys High School in Bengaluru. He was inspired by the doyens of photography in the city in particular, Late Dr. G. Thomas, Late C. Rajagopal, Late TE D’Aguiar, Late E. Hanumantha Rao and Late B.S. Sundaram.
Asif was awarded the AFIAP and ARPS in 1994, becoming in the process the first from India to achieve these International distinctions in pictorial portraiture. Then onwards there has been no looking back for him in the field of photography and he has won many awards & certificates, besides International Distinctions like, AICS in 2000, FICS and PPSA in 2012, EFIAP, Hon. BPP in 2013, EFIAP/Bronze, EPSA and Hon. FSWAN in 2015 and EFIAP/Silver, Hon. EFMPA, Hon. FICS, Hon. FPSNJ in 2016.
Beginning in the analogue era with a keen interest in the processing of prints, he has been regularly exhibiting his images at National and International photography exhibitions recognized by FIAP and PSA. His photographs have been exhibited in salons spread over 40 countries and won many awards including the Grand Prix Award for Photography in Serbia in 2015, Trierenberg Gold Medal, a dozen PSA and FIAP Gold medals, Al Thani Gold Medal, Fotoferia Medal from Poland, CAPA Medal for Landscape from Canada, FIAP Blue Badge, Best Portrait medals and PSA Best Environmental Portrait, among the 275 plus awards in National and International photography salons and contests.
To contribute towards the propagation of the art of photography in Karnataka, he instituted the Askary Awards in 1997 exclusively for recognizing youth in Karnataka. Askary Award is presented in August each year. With the recent creation of the Dubai Chapter of the Royal Photographic Society, UK, he was appointed as its Chapter Organizer. He is also the Country Representative of the Image Colleague Society International, California, USA and the Country Representative of the Photographic Society of New Jersey, USA.
He was a Life Member of Youth Photographic Society and held the position of YPS Secretary in the YPS Executive Committee for two terms. For him, photography is a passion and always aspires to reach out to a wider audience and share knowledge acquired through three decades of extensive photography.
His keenness in photography even to this day, coupled with his interest to share your knowledge with others has benefited many of our members. The practical sessions conducted by him have been well attended always & praised by all. He has inspired many youngsters to take up photography seriously and achieve international distinctions. Importantly, even though based in Dubai, he continues to represent YPS in Indian and international salons, contributing towards the best club awards for the society.
Sri. Anantha Raj – Hon. YPS
Sri. Chandrashekar, Treasurer of YPS read out the citation for Sri. Anantha Raj even as Anantha Raj was felicitated by Sri Bhagawan and Sri Basavaraju with garland, shawl, fruit bowl and a memento.
It is during his tenure, the first YPS salon was held in 1977. That was a real turning point for YPS. Membership increased. YPS became all the more popular with hosting of YPS International Salon and FIP convention. He made significant contributions to all these activities.
Even though he had not opted for many awards in photography, he was keenly interested in pictorial photography and made excellent images. He had great association with eminent photographers like Dr. G. Thomas and Sri. T.R. Babu, who was also his guru and mentor.
With a keen interest in the administration of YPS, he brought laurels to the society during his tenure as Vice president and Secretary from 1977 to 1990. During this period along with Sri. T.R. Babu, he organized the First YPS Colour Slide International Salon and brought out a beautiful catalogue.
YPS Service Award
During the function, YPS also recognized Sri. Ramachandran H V and Sri. A S Prakash with YPS Service Award for their contributions to the functioning of YPS.
A.S. PRAKASH was introduced to YPS & photography during his college days by his uncle Sri T S Srinivasa Rao. In the year 1986 he did a basic course in YPS & started as a hobby after graduation. He pursued photography as a profession and did extensive wedding photography & some corporate assignments to fund his hobby. After seeing pictures of eminent photo artists he started participating in many national & international saloons under the guidance of Satish who is a dear friend philosopher & guide. He had a few successes with awards & certificates in nature prints then shifted to nature slides He won awards from Lucknow Camera Club, PSI Bombay, PAB Bengal, NEPA Assam, KAPS Hyderabad and BPS Bihar to name a few. He also won the ADLABS trophy from PSI Bombay, the Best Wild Life Award from Mumbai & Karnataka Forest Department Wild Life award in 1996.
During his active tenure in YPS from 1990 to 1997, he worked extensively for the club towards conducting workshops, outings, national & international saloons and was associated with the FIP convention held in Bangalore & YPS silver jubilee event. He served as the secretary of YPS for two tenures.
He travelled extensively in & around the country with Satish, the most memorable & dangerous ones being Khaziranga & Corbett. Some of his works were published in Vijaya Bank & Raheja Group calendars in the year 1996 & he had contributed to the book Encounters in the Forest. An accident in 1997 changed the course of my life from hobby photographer to an IT professional.
In 1998 he joined Cranes software International Ltd and is currently a Vice president – Operations there. He continues to support all YPS programs and events.
Sri Ramachandra retired from Nestle as an executive. Though he does not take photographs, he is a keen lover of the art of photography. He has been handling many administrative positions in YPS, since he joined. He has been a very meticulous accountant, who is well known for his accounting acumen. For the last 5 years he was the Treasurer of YPS. Now he has totally retired from everything and is spending his time spiritually. He is still guiding and helping the present committee in maintenance of book of accounts for YPS.
The Inauguration Function ended with an excellent vote of thanks by Sri. Surya Prakash, Secretary, YPS. YPS also took the opportunity to recognize the members of the YPS Executive Committee on the occasion of World Photography Day.
Press on World Photography Day Exhibition
The Hindu published couple of photographs from the Exhibition under “That Perfect Moment” column.
Kannada News Paper Vishwa Wani carried a column on the Exhibition.
Gallery of Event Photos