Shooting Star

Lensman Navneet Saxena bags the innovative photography award.

Back in 1979,when Navneet Saxena took to photography,little did he know that he would soon get addicted to it. Ever since,he has carried his 14kg-photography kit around the world,exploring new places and capturing interesting people and moments.

As Saxena arrives at Hotel Mountview to receive the Innovative Photography Award by the Department of Chandigarh Tourism,he takes a trip down the memory lane starting right from the first photography award he got in 1984 from the Ministry of Tourism. He then goes on to talk about his latest assignment in Los Angeles capturing Drum Circles,a group of musicians practising alternate lifestyle,high on what they call legal drugs.

Its been an absorbing journey. I have enjoyed the magic of photography, he says. But perfection doesnt come easy. Saxena says sometimes it took him 20,000 wrong shots to get one right picture. Now,I use the manual mode in my camera and never tamper with my pictures on the computer. Else,originality is lost, he adds. Saxena has worked on several projects for Chandigarh Tourism,including a coffee-table book,Chandigarh The City Beautiful.

For him,photography is a way of preserving and appreciating moments of life and places as we see them. His aim is to capture the character of people through his images.

In this context,the shots he took of gay couples in Toronto remain his prized possession. This was a few years ago when these people were living on the fringes of the society, he says.

Even though he now carries a digital camera,Saxena says his zeal to click pictures hasnt changed in all these years. And whats next on his agenda? Happy pictures of the city at twilight, he says.

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