BY CLARA A RODRIGUES
Knowledge can still be elusive to the bespectacled scholar buried in a pile of books. An education is incomplete without a simultaneous journey into the outer world.
Those who know its implications know what it is meant by ‘having a head start in life’. An enthusiastic bunch of students of the Goa Engineering College, Ponda (GEC) have learnt the means of venturing into the world and also of developing their personalities and potential by involving themselves in various extra co-curricular activities one such being photography. The earnestness of their passion is evident from the photography fest called Photo Flare that will be held on April 10 and 11 at Sunaparanta, Altinho, Panaji.
The fest will have three main sections. The first is an international level competition based on four themes - ‘Life by night’, ‘Candid’, Colours’ and ‘Reflections’.
Says Pranav Pai Vernekar, “We got in touch with various international photography clubs through email, and have so far got a good response from them.” Mr Vernekar continues further speaking of the next aspect of the fest, “Entries will be judged by eminent photographers. The best entries will be put on display at the exhibition at Sunaparanta, and will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the fest days. Apart from these, various photographs clicked by the members of the GEC photography club will be on exhibit too.
The third part to the fest is a lecture and workshops that will be held to impart deeper knowledge on photography. Noah Silveira, a member of the GEC photography club informs, “There will be workshop on Night Photography by Akhil Khandeparkar, another workshop on Creative use of outdoor Light which will be conducted by Dattaram Gawade. Suresh Kulkarni will deliver a lecture on ‘The story behind the click’ that will throw light on various engineering aspects related to photography.
The GEC photography club was started a year ago, after a student of the college won an international level competition for photography. This ignited the shutterbug instinct that was dormant in the student enthusiasts. The club meets every month to discuss and share ideas on photography. They arrange talks to be delivered by experts in the field. To infuse their activities with creativity, they also hold a theme-based photography competition for its members each month. It’s love of photography that fuels their stamina to pursue this drive even if it means staying after class to meet and discuss ideas. Many of the members of the club actively participate in various photography competitions and have even gone on to win many of them.
Mr Vernekar adds, “We have received a lot of encouragement from our faculty teachers like Samrat Borkar, and Chetan Desai.” Chetan Desai in turn says, “We encourage the students to involve themselves in activities other than their studies. This helps develop their personalities. The students do not need to be forced to study, however they do need a push when it comes to bringing out their talent.”
(Visit www.photoflare.orgfor details on the Fest. The last day to submit entries for the competition is March 31. The competition is open to all. For more information SMS 56677)
