Lens Master

In a slide show at Government Museum and Art Gallery- Sector 10, people of Chandigarh were exposed to some of the finest works of renowned photographer Raghu Rai. As the photographs clicked from his early works, his interactions with the names in the country to the vast cultural diversity of India, Rai spun stories around each frame and enlightened us with his exploration through the viewfinder.

8220;Art is not beauty, it is expression and exploration. It is meant to take you higher than from where you are at present,8221; says the man best known for his captures of the Bhopal gas tragedy, Mother Teresa and Indira Gandhi. Raghu Rai was in town for a two day photojournalism workshop organised by Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi. The workshop was attended by around 60 amateur and professional photographers from the tricity. He interacted with media photographers and photo enthusiasts of the city also commenting on their photographs.

Rai commented that photography today is facing a lot of repitition. 8220;Landscapes are not bad but nature will give you something beautiful any given hour. Explore the streets around you. For instance, if you are a college student go capture the energy. Good photography cannot happen sitting down at the same spot.8221; Rai sees himself as a street photographer and incidentally it was not photography but music that Rai was interested in. 8220;But after my father8217;s reprimand 8216;Mirasi banega kya?8217; it became history!8221; So the first shot happened with a camera borrowed from his brother. 8220;I chased an innocent looking donkey till it got tired. The shot was good enough to be published in London Times and the payment was enough for two months!8221; And for those still stepping into the field Rai8217;s advise is 8220;don8217;t always follow the mind, if you don8217;t enjoy the 8216;ras8217; of life then it8217;s a waste. Live fully, be passionate about what you do and keep raising the bar8221; So is he planning to take on the teacher8217;s role? 8220;I8217;m quite mismanaged, teaching requires discipline. Students do come to me for a month or as long as six months but after the training they lose all that they have learnt. Now I only take up students who have the fire to make a difference.8221;

You heard him!