They say that a traveller sees what he sees, but a tourist only sees what he has come to see. Any seasoned traveller will tell you that the best way to explore a city is by walking the streets, visiting markets, chatting with the locals, and enjoying the sights and sounds. Based on this concept, Srivatsan Sankaran, a city-based photographer, is organising a photo walk in Koyambedu Market on October 15.
Whether you’re armed with a phone or a DSLR, you can document the city the way you experience it, believes Srivatsan, adding that the very essence of street photography is capturing the humdrum of society on the streets. “You can find opportunities to practice street photography anywhere and you don’t necessarily need to travel far and wide to capture great shots. Sometimes, you need to interact with people to capture their connection with life. It’s all packed together to project your perception about the streets,” says the 27-year-old.
Not only this, to perfect their photography skills, every participant will be given feedback. “I will assist participants to understand the proper settings for clicking pictures. They will be required to post their photos in the group to get feedback on their work. That way, not only can they improve, but by learning from others, everyone else can improve as well,” explains Srivatsan.
Srivatsan, who has been travelling, discovering and documenting local festivals and places since 2010, has one goal — to document unnoticed cultural events happening in rural India. “I plan, each and every day, to achieve my goal, which is to travel and photograph cultural events in rural areas of the country. My goals are my bosses,” says Srivatsan, who is also the founder of Madras Photo Bloggers, to promote the rich culture of Chennai.
“You may find blogs for fashion, lifestyle and travel, but not culture. We will not only highlight cultural events but through our blog, we will also provide a platform for talented cultural artists to shine,” he says, adding that the blog will also focus on the art, tradition and food culture of the city. It will also emphasise the importance of Tamil language and conduct open discussions related to politics and education.
Exploring and experiencing new places to capture people’s lifestyle, culture and tradition with sincerity brings immense happiness to Srivatsan. And for the future, he has a list of places that he’d like to explore. “I will be travelling to a few places for the next three years and meanwhile, I plan to take up creative commercial projects like leading tours, writing blog posts, conducting workshops and hosting events in Chennai. Social entrepreneurship is my target; to connect people is my long-term goal,” he concludes.
