Reality meets art

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: The first photojournalist was Carol Szathmari who did pictures in the Crimean War (1853 to 1856). Just a few of his photographs survived.

That was then.

It seems that everyone these days is taking photographs and saving them and distributing them. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. But at a time when the end-of-the-world-may-be-nearer-than-you-think elegy is playing across the corridors of print, what’s the future of photojournalism as a profession? And what is the contribution of photojournalists in building print brands?

The best answer to these questions are reconciled by the fact that photojournalism helps us experience and see the world in ways that few other disciplines can match. Photojournalism is a visual response to life—you have to capture it as it happens, there is no time to ‘fix’ anything, no scope for a ‘retake’. It is a medium of education—it can help expose, explain and establish what it means to be human.

In that sense, press photographs are an integral part of journalism. They help build strong print brands. But then photography is a career where only the very best make it. The Indian Express Group understands this and has been encouraging and supporting photojournalism through activities like bringing the World Press Photo Exhibition to Mumbai.

The India Press Photo Awards (IIPA) instituted by The Ramnath Goenka Foundation are an initiative to identify and reward excellence in photojournalism and documentary photography. In the centennial year of its founder, Ramnath Goenka, The Indian Express Group initiated the first ever awards of this stature when the India Press Photo Awards were hosted in 2004 in Mumbai.

The IPPA calls for entries from all over the country through a national media campaign. A panel of eminent judges from the world of news and journalism evaluate the entries through an internationally accepted, rigorous judging process. The awards are an initiative to identify, promote and reward Indian Press photographers and photojournalists who capture the essence for news through their eyes and lenses.

The IPPA today is a brand in its own right. The contest is open to all professional press photographers and photojournalists in India in the following 10 major categories—Spot News, General News, Daily Life, People In the News, Arts and Entertainment, Sports, Nature & Environment, Contemporary Issues, Advertising Photography, International Photographer covering India.