Heritage in focus

The photo exhibition going on as part of the Hyderabad Heritage Festival is being hosted at one of the lesser known heritage structures, the Hill Fort Palace. Surrounding the beautiful courtyard of the palace are 20 images shot by photographers from Hyderabad Photowalkers.

The curator of the show, photographer Chandrasekhar Singh, says that photography is one way to preserve monuments. “When we click a photo, it has an impact over others. It raises curiosity over heritage monuments and abandoned monuments. Through this, we can at least make people realise their value,” he says.

The photos include buildings such as the Unani Hospital, Moula Ali palace, British Residency and lesser visited places like the Paigah Tombs. Chandrasekhar says, “We are a group of photo enthusiasts who visit monuments and heritage places during our photo walks. That is how we have a vast collection of photos from around the city. It is from these photographers that we picked five for the exhibition.”

Out of 70 photos submitted, 20 were chosen. All the five photographers, whose works were chosen, took up photography as a hobby. Swasti Verma, whose photo of the Mecca Masjid through the Unani Hospital captures your eye, says, “People don’t realise the importance of these structures. In fact, many locals have no idea of these heritage sites. That shows how much we need to work on bringing these places to the forefront and if we’re able to help preserve at least one place through our work then we will consider our job done.”

So far, the group had completed at least 130 walks. Prudhvi Chowdary, whose shot of the Unani Hospital and the Golconda fort are on display says, “Heritage lives through photography. We never know if these  buildings will be there tomorrow, but we hope our photos will provide a glimpse of our present to the future generations.”

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