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Showtime for shutterbugs
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PI 2002 is about glamour. Stylish stalls, stylish products, sounds, lights and posters, demo rooms, vans to the parking lot, tags for visitors, fashion shows every couple of hours and the staff pretending the world was there (``Are you from Chennai, sir?''). It is also about photography, the experience.
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See through the lens, brightly at PI 2002.
TALK ABOUT the hype first. Walk into any photo lab in Chennai and you will be asked, ``Why is South India smiling'' Why indeed? Because they were asked to say cheese.
PhotoImaging 2002, touted as ``South India's largest photography and imaging event'', is in Chennai at ``India's biggest trade complex'', Chennai Trade Centre. The biggest brands are there, as promised, sharing space with lesser known.
With almost 90 stalls, it has the works: High-end SLRs, sleek compacts, handy cams, software, hardware, accessories, the works, the focus being digital, especially in the compacts segment. But let's get to them later.
PI 2002 is about glamour. Stylish stalls, stylish products, sounds, lights and posters, demo rooms, vans to the parking lot, tags for visitors, fashion shows every couple of hours and the staff pretending the world was there (``Are you from Chennai, sir?''). It is also about photography, the experience.
Walk a corner and there are tigers inviting you to a safari. ``The Big Cats are waiting...'' it says, "... to be stalked, captured and shot... on film''.
Tata Infomedia and their publication, Better Photography, have organised a `Tiger Photography Safari' in the jungles of Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh. There are five jeep safaris and two safaris by elephant - ``the most effective way to search for tigers in the park''. (Contact: 8295050). ``Are you ready to make your mark?''
If the answer to that is ``no'', if you don't know SLRs from auto focus, and think filters are science lab stuff, there is the Ambitions Photography Academy offering basics in practical photography or courses for professionals.
Or you can ``let your imagination run wild'' at the HP photo shop. The stall has a great demo running, giving tips on instant and customised photography, t-shirt printing, creating personalised greeting cards, restoring old photos, archiving on CDs. HP's offer is a digital imaging package, complete with multi-media PC, printer, scanner, digital camera, web camera, a CD writer, start-up kit, modem, internet connection, editing software and training, all for about Rs.1.5 lakh.
Go around, and cutting-edge technology goes down memory lane to vintage classics. The GK Camera stall has a Brownie camera dating to the last century. ``There might be older ones, but we don't have a date on them,'' said a stall member.
Full circle to glamour. For those who wanted their clicks going, a mini-ramp was geared up for a fashion parade. Nothing great about the fashion, but it was practise time. The stalls were still brimming.
Earlier, on the sides, Rajiv Menon cut the ribbon. To the self-confessed camera buff suffering from ``equipmentitis'', PI 2002 was bliss. ``Chennai deserves an exhibition every year.''
Part of the inauguration was the Press Photography Awards, with the Mid-Day, The Hindu, The Times of India, The Indian Express, The Asian Age winning awards among others. The exhibition of the best entries was a powerful showcase for photography.
The Joint Managing Director of The Hindu, N.Murali presented some of the awards to the prize-winning photographers.
PI 2002 was also about cameras. Say, ``Cheese''.
The exhibition is on till March 10.
By Feroze Ahmed
Photo: K. Pichumani
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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