What does it take for you to click a good photograph? The latest camera? A photography course, perhaps? For Aadhyaa Aravind Shankar, it was her mother. Yes, quite literally. She clicked a beautiful photo of her mother, Roshni Aravind, lying on her grandmother's lap and called it Lap of Peace. This won the seven-year-old the Children's Peace Image of the Year 2021 on World Peace Day, organised recently at the Austrian Parliament, making her the first Indian to win this award. The Children’s Peace Image of the Year is an international photo competition for young people, conducted by the Global Peace Photo Award.
Aravind KS, Aadhyaa's father, says, "Every year, Edition Lammerhuber, an organisation based in Austria, organises the Global Photo Peace Award competition and thousands of people participate, including children and adults. The winners are invited to the Austrian Parliament to receive their award. This photo that Aadhyaa took, quite casually I must add, was sent to that organisation in May 2021 when the entries were called for. We are thrilled that she is now the first Indian to win this competition in the children's section."
The photo that won her the award, Lap of Peace (Picture: Aadhyaa Aravind Shankar)
While no real planning went into clicking this photo, when Aadhyaa sent it for the competition, she connected it conceptually to protecting nature and the environment and called it Lap of Peace. Talking about Aadhyaa's thought process, Aravind says, "At first, she sat and thought about what to shoot. Usually, it is Aadhyaa who sleeps on her grandmother's lap but this time, she saw her mother sleeping and it instantly made sense to her. We all connect that kind of sleep with true peacefulness. She was also learning concepts related to the environment in school so she was able to compare the photo to nature. If we protect Mother Earth, then the whole world can live in peace — that's her message." And what a wonderful message through the eyes of a child.
Initially, the photo was in colour but Aadhyaa converted it into a black and white photo and cropped it so that she could focus on the subjects to ensure that her message is conveyed correctly. Aadhyaa captures anything and everything she finds interesting. She not only became the first Indian to receive the Global Peace Photo Award, she also won a cash prize of 1,000 euros and a medal. The photo she took has been published on the friedaward.com as well as the Austrian Parliament's website.
