High Court judge presents photography awards

Special News Photographer of The Hindu, K.V.S. Giri, receiving the Putchalapalli Sundarayya Memorial Award from High Court Judge Justice K. Manmadha Rao on the occasion of World Photojournalism Day, in Vijayawada on Friday.
| Photo Credit: Nagara Gopal

Andhra Pradesh High Court judge Justice K. Manmadha Rao on November 1 (Friday) said photographs had a magical ability “to transport us back to the moment”. They capture not just images, but memories — the sights, the sounds and the smells, all preserved in a single frame.

Justice Manmadha Rao was speaking at the World Photojournalism Day celebrations, organised by the State Department of Creativity and Culture Commission, in collaboration with Photography Academy of India (PAI) and Indian International Photography Council (IIPC), at Vijayawada.

“We went around a photo exhibition which depicted myriad moods captured on different occasions, events, places and of different people. They also serve as a reminder of how mankind stands helpless amidst nature’s fury,” he said, referring to the photographs that evoked traumatic memories of the recent floods.

Jana Sena MLA Mandali Buddha Prasad spoke about the significance of photography. He said photographs “help us understand the past by preserving the visual history of the world. He said visuals captured in cameras of the severe cyclonic storms witnessed in Andhra Pradesh in the past had been helpful in understanding the intensity of nature’s fury. “Photographs can be the most accurate and permanent record of an event,” he said.

Special News Photographers of The Hindu, K.V.S. Giri and Nagara Gopal, along with other winners, received prizes from Justice Manmadha Rao.

Organiser of the event T. Srinivasa Reddy said events like these served as a platform to encourage photojournalists to further hone their skills and showcase them to the world.

The Hindu’s Andhra Pradesh Resident Editor Appaji Reddem, Head of the Journalism and Mass Communication Department in Acharya Nagarjuna University K. Jyotirmayi, freelance journalist K.H.S.S. Sundar were the judges for the photography contest.

Former MP Gokaraju Gangaraju, Photography Academy of India vice-president K. Sundar and others were present.