Chandan D Naik Gaonkar recently got the Best Award (Photography) for his image titled ‘Window’s Vista’ at the International Facebook Group Art Exhibition/Competition
A self-taught photographer, Chandan D Naik Gaonkar has been participating in various photography contests and exhibitions since 2003, winning numerous awards and serving as a jury for many art and photography contests too.
Recently, he added another feather to his cap by winning the Best Award (Photography) for his image titled ‘Window’s Vista’ at the International Facebook Group Art Exhibition/Competition that was organised by Kalaratnam Foundation of Art Society (KFOAS Bareilly Uttar Pradesh. Gaonkar was one of the five awardees across India.
“‘Window’s Vista’ was clicked some years back in the streets of Fontainhas. I liked the deep cobalt blue colour wall with white border and window, especially the shadow formed on the wall, depicting calligraphic strokes,” he says, adding that it is a simple image.
Besides this, for the last few years, Gaonkar has been working exclusively on mobile photography and recently two of his photos titled ‘Yellow Window’ and ‘Lotus’ clicked on the smartphone were selected in the colour and monochrome section respectively for the YPS International Digital Photography Salon 2021. The international competition cum exhibition was organised as part of the 50th anniversary of the Youth Photographic Society, Bengaluru, and received a total of 17,451 images from 1,276 photographers hailing from 64 countries. “I am the only Goan whose work has been selected and the exhibition will be held in January mostly,” he says.
Apart from photography, Gaonkar also does paintings, especially using watercolours and acrylics.