Thirteen photojournalists including a Kashmiri photojournalist Javed Ahmad Dar were conferred awards for their exceptional work by Arun Jaitley Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting, at the 5th National Photography Awards ceremony here today.Addressing the august gathering on the occasion, Jaitley said that the National Photography Awards was a ‘Great Initiative’ of the Government to honour and recognize those creative professionals who defined moments in history through their creative pictorial mastery.“Photographers work in adverse circumstances waiting to capture moments of the day which leaves an impression in the minds of the people,” he said.Jaitley added: “Photography was a complicated art, which reminded us of history through images captured related to events/personalities.”
The Minister lauded the professional work of Bhawan Singh who was given the Life Time Achievement Award for this year, recalling his excellence in capturing the visual journey of India from late 70s. He also highlighted the professional skills of Singh in portraying images of different genres in a career span of more than four decades.Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore and Secretary I&B, Sunil Arora were also present on the occasion.Speaking on the occasion Sunil Arora, Secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said that a photograph/Cartoon had the power of expression conveying more than an editorial write up. He said that Photo Division, a Media Unit under the Ministry of I&B is the largest organization in the country involved in production and storage of still photographs across various facets of life and is in the process of digitizing this repository.
Jaitley and Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore also felicitated the winners of the 5th National Photography Awards. The Life Time Achievement award was presented to Shri Bhawan Singh for his illustrious career and contributions to the field of Photography. Singh has worked in the Indian news industry for over five decades and is one of the senior photo journalist in the country. His career which started in a newspaper has been built mostly around magazines. He worked as Magazine Photo Editor with India Today magazine. He is a recipient of the World Press Photo Award.The total number of awards in the various categories were thirteen. The various categories included Professional Photographer of the Year, Special Mention Award (Professional), Amateur Photographer of the Year, Special Mention Award (Amateur). The Professional Photographer of the year Award was given to Javed Ahmed Dar who trains his lens on pictures of human interest. His photographs have appeared in prestigious international publications. Himanshu Thakur was given the Amateur Photographer of the year award. He is a photo enthusiast who captures people’s emotions, expressions and city scapes.Jaitley also released the brochure for the 5th National Photography Awards which profiles the awardees and their work.The Jury for the 5th National Photography Awards was a six member committee headed by Ashok Dilwale. The other members of the Jury included K. Madhavan Pillai, Sudharak Olwe, H. Satish, Gurinder Osan and Sanjiv Misra. (CNS)