“Documentary Photography” – A Professional Insight for ICATians 2016 @ ICAT, Bangalore

The UG Photography students of ICAT Design & Media College, Bangalore were steered to build their skills in documentary photography through a 2-day workshop by Mr. Vivek Muthuramalingam on 21st and 22nd of March, 2016. Vivek is an independent Photographer and Visual Journalist based out of Bangalore. In his documentary work, Vivek seeks for ideas that serve humanitarian purposes. He strives to dedicate his abilities for projects that can illustrate and inform socially-relevant, ecologically-urgent and culturally-important themes that can perhaps help serve a greater cause of change and sustenance.

During his two-day workshop, the students were taught how to visualize a story using visuals and generate editorials.On day one,Mr. Vivek explained how to show emotion in a work and create an impact, through his projects which was quite inspiring for the students. The workshop also created an opportunity for the students to analyze some famous documentary photographers’ works, such as David Alan Harvey, Martin parr and Nick Turpin.

On day two,Mr. Vivek assigned a short documentary brief for the students to practice, for which the students were taken to K.R Market, Bangaloreto capture people at work. It was a great experience for the students to interact with people and make the choice of gears to capture perfect images. By the end of the day, all the students' photos were reviewed by Mr. Vivek, who gave constructive feedback. Some of the other areas that Mr. Vivek was emphasizing the students were research before commencinga project, use of morning light, focus on story, editing and preparing for an attempt to composea report.

Overall, it was a great experience for the students who are sure to use the skills in their future works.

Student's Feedback:

"Mr. Vivek’s workshop was useful to all type of photographers. From his workshop, we were able to experience the importance of Street photography, as it sets the foundation for other photography mediums.On the firstday, he taught us the importance of Street Photography and gave a brief note on what photo essay is all about. He also gave us a list of legendary documentary Photographers from whom we can seekinspiration. The day ended with aphoto walk.
During day two at the KR market, we were asked to choose a theme and capture a series of picturesthat will form a photo essay. At 6 AM we reached the placeand started shooting people under the theme we chose. It was great to see the way Mr. Vivek approached people at the busy market place. Overall, this workshop helped us learn to create photo essay and to prepare ourselves for documentary projects." Palaniappan, L4 Photography