A photo for the planet

Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s Srinivasa Prasath has won the second prize in a photo contest held recently. The theme was ‘My Community, My Planet’ and participants had to capture initiatives of an individual or a group to clean the environment. Srinivasa’s submission was a photograph from the clean-up drive at a beach in Mumbai after the grand festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. The software professional, who prefers to be referred as a serious photography enthusiast, not an amateur, explains: “I clicked this photograph in 2012 right after the Ganesh immersion celebrations in Mumbai. I wanted to show how the municipal corporation handles all the remains of Ganesha idols and what happens to the marine life in the water bodies.”

He set out with his Canon EOS digital rebel XSi DSLR to shoot in the perfect golden evening light, but soon clouds took over. A snap taken by him before the immersion day had also won him ‘The Best Travel Photographer of the Year 2013’ by the Lonely Planet magazine. The 32-year-old techie has learnt photography himself. Srinivasa says, “My photography interest is a by-product of my first love, that’s trekking. I used to trek, shoot there with my point-and-shoot camera, and share with my friends on emails. My friends liked my work and encouraged me to upgrade my camera. Now I have started teaching photography to fellow trekkers.” Quite naturally, Srinivasa is honing himself as a travel photographer, with a focussed interest in landscape and travel portraits.