The art of photography

When Deep Pai started Photographers@Pune (P@P), he had a one point agenda -- to bring together people whou00a0consider photography as an art. Little did he know that six years down the line the group would have grown into a massive group of around 2,600 people.u00a0

Talking about P@P, Soumitra Inamdar, group administrator, says, "Deep Pai started this online forum about six years back with six people. The idea was to gather enthusiastic photographers and have some fun, but at the same time play around with their passion for photography. Initially most of the entries were from Pune but now we have received entries from outside Maharastrau00a0as well."

Photographers@Pune has been organising the photography exhibition Drushtikon for about five years now. This year too Drushtikon 2011 will exhibit over 100 exclusive photographs by around 45 photographers. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Marathi film actor Subodh Bhave and acclaimed classical singer Rahul Deshpande on December 2.

Talking about how photography has changed in the six years of P@P's existence, Soumitra says, "The first year we started the group we weren't that active. Nowadays the group has become more serious and focused. Some of the members have also got professional assignments. The group has always been about getting together and learning different techniques."u00a0

He adds that six years ago, when they used to go shooting with SLR (Single Lens Reflex) cameras people used to gawk at them thinking they were journalists covering something. "Today, however a lot of people have SLR cameras but they don't know the techniques. At the forum we brainstorm about different camera techniques. Also over the years we have observed that the quality of photos have improved and we have improved," he adds.

Around 50% of the proceeds from the sale of photographs will be donated for sponsoring the education of hearing and speech impaired children.

From December 2 to December 4, 10 am to 9 pm

At New Art Gallery, Ghole Road.u00a0