New Delhi   

Birds shot in the wild

Somendra Singh loves to walk around forests hunting birds. And his preferred weapon of choice: an SLR digital camera. Bringing alive more than just stray feathers, he has put together an exhibition that is about capturing the grace of the winged world.

A look at birds from the hot sandy deserts of Rajasthan to the barren landscape of the cold deserts of Spiti and Lahaul, Somendra has walked for miles with his camera to freeze birds in flight forever.

"I have been a field man before I started photography. I have always been interested in birds. I am a graphic designer by profession and photography is just my hobby. While people sit and wait for the birds, I prefer the more active approach by walking around with my camera. I am more of a hunter in that way and not a fisherman,'' he says.

"Stray Feathers'', his exhibition then is a testimony to his more active approach to photography. Showcasing the beauty of the avian form, the exhibition has pictures of grey owls, bright blue kingfishers to a rare bird that only three people in India claim to have seen. "Stray Feathers'' indeed is a must-see for all bird-watchers.

"I have a picture of the Vineaceous Rosefinch. It is a really rare bird. There are only two or three records of the bird. It has never been photographed before. It is pink in colour like wine and I took a picture of it in Sangla Valley. It is a very clear picture and I think the only one of its kind,'' he says.

On view at India International Centre in New Delhi from this Friday, "Stray Birds'' also allows the visitor to start their own aviary albeit only on paper. Printed on high-quality paper, the photographs on display at the exhibition will be on sale. --Mandira Nayar

--Mandira Nayar

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