Off-Circuit

Inspired by nature,Manveen Anand and Nishith Gupta’s aim was to photograph places that have not been tampered with by humans and often ignored due to lack of tourism initiatives. “These are places that have retained their innocent beauty,” say the duo,of their photography exhibition “The Evolving Sun”. Hung on the walls are over 50 images clicked by the two who met on blogspot.com.

If Kashmir is represented by swaying greens and soothing sunsets,in Thailand and Spain the emphasis is on the interiors. There are snapshots of Phuket’s The Wish Spot and pictures that capture sunrise and sunset at Tarragona in Spain,Curacao,a small island in the Caribbean Sea and in Korea. Of the pictures close to Anand’s heart are those taken in Chalal,a small riverside village near Kasol,Manali. “We trekked for four hours to capture the scenic beauty,” says Anand,a merchant navy officer who has travelled to 25 countries with his camera. Among his other works is a photograph of fishermen at work at the Bay of Bengal after cyclone Laila in 2010 and a long shot of waves created by a small boat.

“Being in merchant navy gives me the privilege of spending long hours at the sea and clicking all its moods. Besides,sea ports at secluded sites give me access to places relatively less travelled,” says Anand.

Pictures from in and around Chandigarh too hold a place of pride at this exhibition,planned after the two got rave reviews for the photographs they had posted online. “We uploaded our images on Facebook and formed our own blogs and business started rolling in. My first painting fetched me Rs 8000,” recalls Gupta,an engineer,presently a faculty member in Capital Markets Institute,Nainital.

Proceeds from sales of the photographs will go to Chandigarh-based NGO Global Environment Concern. The exhibition is on at Punjab Arts Council,Sector 16,Chandigarh,from June 4 to June 5.