Capturing the memories of lockdown

How different is World Photography Day 2020 as compared to the previous years?

Photographers share their experiences of the year, some accounting the months through the pandemic and its subsequent affects as one of the toughest to pass by while others sharing details about how they turned it around for themselves, even in the midst of the lockdown.

Lenny Emmanuel, who is a TEDx Hyderabad speaker and is known in the Pearl City photography circles for his historic clicks during the Nizam’s era, has been working steadfast to carrying his legacy forward.
“We have been keeping ourselves busy during the pandemic,” Lenny tells us.

“In fact, I have been getting requests from people who were interested to look at my travel photography. My team and I have been conducting workshops for budding photographers. We are also trying to get back the fading analogue photography among people to educate them about its importance.”

Additionally, Lenny and his team also plan to conduct a virtual seminar on the 19th and 20th August, which would mostly focus on analogue photography.

Given that wedding photography has been one of the worst hit businesses owing to the lockdown, it would be easy to consider wedding photographers to be going through their share of misery through this phase.
However, while team members of Wedam Chronicles, who have been capturing wedding memories for five years now, have been a stressed lot, under the leadership of Dileep Reddy and Rajiv T, founders of Wedam Chronicle, the seven-member team decided to turn around the lockdown for their benefit.
They have been utilising the lockdown time to attend many online sessions for upskilling themselves.

“To this end, we have been sharing stories through our photos and improving on our skills during the lockdown,” says Dileep. “In addition to keep the income coming, we are now also focusing on home weddings.”

Clicking away the challenges

There are, of course, photographers who are also not as lucky as Wedam Chronicles or Lenny, with some having had to temporarily shut off business.

Jovy Thomas, who is into baby photography, is one such. “My photoshoots are usually outdoors, so the lockdown has clearly impacted me professionally,” says Jovy. “Currently, I am playing dual roles of a homemaker and learner. I have purchased online workshops and classes on photography to further polish the skills.”

However, despite the gloom that’s settling in her profession, for World Photography Day, the self-motivator photographer plans to release a short video on her social-media platforms, which showcase her growth and journey throughout the years in the field.

“I am hoping that the video I churn out inspires me to stay positive and hopeful for the future,” she asserts. Unlike many others, the lockdown has not affected Arshanapally Shiva too badly.

A freelance photographer who has been getting regular commissions of photographing hospitals and other lockdown-related stories, Shiva’s biggest concern, however, has been about keeping his equipment safe.

“As a freelancer, I’ve often worked from home. And even during the lockdown, it hasn’t really mattered much to me that I have had to step out because when it came to travelling, the roads were empty and there was physical distance maintained. However, what concerned me most was to be working in hospitals, I always feared if someone infected with the virus would make contact with my equipment and it would transfer to me,” he says.