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Of the city’s famed shutterbug
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R. Senthil Kumaran with a double feather in his cap is all set to venture out for more, writes S. SUNDAR
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Picture perfect The photograph that won award from Royal Geographic Society
It was love at first sight that distracted R. Senthil Kumaran initially. His lady love was the camera and to capture images was his passion. Such has been his intensity and dedication, that this local youngster has conquered laurels globally.
It all started with the Humanity Photo Awards, constituted by UNESCO and China Folklore Association, Beijing, in 2005.
The award function was held in Beijing last November and within days after receiving the international award, he was surprised with a mail from the Royal Geographic Society, London, announcing him as the Geographical Photographer of the Year, 2007.
At 30, Kumaran has two international awards in his kitty. Undoubtedly, the self-made man is high on excitement. He did not undergo any professional course but learnt the art of photography on his own. Perfection came from perseverance, keen observation, practice and picking up tips from websites on photography.
The photographer R. Senthilkumaran
But the journey to convert this hobby into profession was long and hard. “In 2001, when Information Technology was booming, my parents, friends and relatives advised me against taking up photography. But, now they have no regrets,” says Kumaran.
Passion in a flash
The passion struck him in a flash when he was doing an integrated course in Master of Computer Application a decade ago. “A picture of sunset that I saw at an exhibition in the city was the spark,” he reveals. His love for unconventional things like rearing birds and fish, painting, playing guitar and karate at different stages always kept his parents worried as they thought that it would affect his studies.
So Kumaran chose the next best option — to pursue photography stealthily. Several times he explored the sunset and sunrise through his “unclean” camera which resulted in at least 400 shots in a year.
“This inculcated in me the knowledge of exploiting the light, the right shape of clouds and the reward of patient waiting,” he says.
Even when he was shooting the sun during study holidays, he never lost his focus on studies. He passed the course in flying colours.
Self-learned professional
But one problem he encountered was the cost of developing exposed rolls. Photography being an expensive hobby, he was even forced to forego an opportunity of participating in World Press Photo contest in 2003 since he could not mobilise Rs. 2,500 to courier his entry to Netherlands.
The lost opportunity did not deter him. Instead Kumar took up an assignment of taking photographs for research scholars in Agriculture. He did not join his uncle for wedding shoots to make easy money.
Lady luck smiled on him when export firms in and around Madurai started utilizing him for preparing colourful catalogues to sell their products abroad.
“It solved my money matters. Today I earn equivalent to a software professional. These exporters appreciated my craze for photography and related travels and on several occasions even postponed their work deadline for my sake, he says with gratitude.
Kumaran has so far held three exhibitions of his works. Till date, he has clicked over 6,000 frames of jallikattu.
An ardent traveller, he has been along the Andhra Pradesh Coast, to Rajasthan, interior Karnataka and even walked along the dried up Cauvery for 23 days, from Thalai Cauvery to Poomphar in 2004.
This document fetched him one of the 114 nominations for young documentation photographer at the Annual World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass 2005
UNESCO award
His series on Dusshera celebration at Kulasekarapattinam near Tiruchendur won him the UNESCO award and at present adorn the UNESCO museum in London.
The Royal Society Geography Award came to him for his panoramic view of clothes being dried on the banks of Ganges in Varanasi.
“The frame captured the effect of light passing through colourful saris being dried in the middle of the Ganges. I had a gut feeling that I had struck the right subject. I took a two km boat ride on an early wintry morning, waited in knee-deep water for the perfect colour and light. Perseverence paid off as it is one of my best pictures so far. It reflects the typical Indian culture,” says Kumaran, who pushed back 1,000 entries from far and wide to bag the honour.
The award earned him a 12-day Zambian safari along with his wife, Malathi.
Focus on Tamil culture
An overwhelmed Kumaran is in no mood to leave Madurai seeking greener pastures. He wants to document the minute details of Tamil culture.
“The Meenakshi Temple has not been fully documented in photographs. There are finer identities of Tamils, their culture, food, festival and dress, which I want to explore. And for that, Madurai is the best place.”
Besides he is interested in sharing his experiences and teaching photography to college students free of cost. Kumaran has also set himself with a high ambition of winning at least one international award each year and travelling world wide.
Given his talent and hard work, it perhaps won’t be difficult for him to realize his dreams.
(Kumaran can be contacted on 9842386602).
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Puducherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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