Secretary (I&B), Shri Bimal Julka today conferred the 4^th National Photography Awards to eminent photographers at a function organized by the Photo Division, under the aegis of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting at the National Media Centre, New Delhi. The award function was attended by noted cinematographer, Shri Santosh Sivan and Chairman of the Jury Committee, Shri Anil Risal Singh.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Julka said that the National Awards were meant to pay salutations to the greatest and the best from photography profession. The Ministry of I&B and the Photo Division acted as catalyst/ facilitators to create a dynamic environment. The Awards assumed significance as they brought together the most talented and skillful men and women behind the lens and the screen in an assembly to display their artistic expression.

Shri Julka also gave an overview of the one day workshop on photography and videography held yesterday and mentioned that the ministry would work proactively to organize similar workshops for the North East and J&K shortly.  For this purpose the views of experts at the workshop had been collated and the unanimous view was that the Ministry should facilitate the emerging trends with reference to skill upgradation in these regions.

Secretary also mentioned that the Ministry would consider the recommendations of the Jury Committee on suggestions given. Complimenting Shri Patel for the Life Time Achievement Award, Shri Julka stated that the award was being bestowed upon a legendary photographer who had made extensive and excellent contributions in various fields of photography at both the national and international level.

Shri Surendra R. Patel was given the Life-Time Achievement Award, Shri Swarup Dutta was awarded the Best Professional Photographer Award and Shri R. Sasikumar was awarded Best Amateur Photographer. Awards were also conferred to 10 winners under the Special Mention category for both, the Professional and Amateur segments. The theme for the Professional Category was “Hamara Bharat Swachh Bharat” and for the Amateur Category is “Mother and Child”.

The awards were judged by a Jury Committee comprising of eminent Photojournalists, the Jury consisted of:

(i)                Shri Anil Risal Singh, Chairman (President of Federation of Indian Photography)

(ii)              Dr. Shivanarayan Joshi, Member (Retired Professor and Head of Department, D/o Philosophy, JNV University, Jodhpur, Ex-President Federation of Indian Photography)

(iii)            Shri B. Jayachandran, Member (National Picture Editor of Malayali Manorama)

(iv)            Ms. Rathika Ramasamy, Member (Prominent wildlife photographer)

(v)              Shri Avinash Chand Aggarwal, Member (Senior Fellowship in the Photography, D/o Culture, Government of India. Working as a freelancer professional photographer since 1992)

The winners in the 4^th National Photography Awards are as follows:

Shri Surendra R. Patel, the winner of the Life Time Achievement Award is an eminent professional in the field of photography. He has participated in several national and international exhibitions and salons from 1951 and has 200 awards to his credit. He has been honoured with several awards and felicitations. He is credited for having presented more than 100 slideshows on Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, 1958 and pictorial photography in different parts of the country. He is an expert in using 120 format film camera, 135 mm film camera and digital camera along-with specialization in dark room photo techniques. He has been on the jury for many photography honors for IIPC, FIP and PSI among others. He has held positions in the capacity of President of India, International Photographic Council, Delhi and former Chairperson of Colour Division Federation of India Photography.

CP/ST