Winners of the 2nd Indian Himalayan Photography Competition declared

GANGTOK, 25 May: Winners of the 2nd Indian Himalayan Photography Competition 2012 were declared today at the inaugural function of a photo exhibition displaying the entries of the competition. Organized as a side event to the Sustainable Mountain Development Summit which also began today, the exhibition focuses on showcasing the unique natural and cultural heritage of the bioregion of the Indian Mountain states.
The photography competition received a total of 178 entries from 68 photographers from different states from which, only 67 photographs found place in the competition as others did not fulfill all the requirements of the organizers.
Judged by a four-member panel the competition was held on the Summit’s themes; Water, Communities & Forests and Mountain Livelihoods with cross cutting themes of Climate Change and Innovations.
The photography competition seeks to capture and portray the various critical issues, best practices, situations and realities under each theme and sub theme within the mountain and hill regions.
Arif Siddhique bagged the first prize of Rs 50,000 for his photograph titled ‘Stuff of Life [Children collecting bamboo for daily use]’ taken at Tato, Manchukha in Arunachal Pradesh and Chinlop Fudong Lepcha received the second prize of Rs 30,000 for his photograph titled ‘Nature’s Fury’ taken at Teesta.
Likewise, two consolation prizes of Rs 10,000 each were won by Anup Shah for his photograph ‘Village Life in Someshwar Valley in Uttarakhand and Romong Lepcha for his photograph titled ‘Fisherman’ taken at Reshi River in the Sikkim-West Bengal border.
Human Resource Development Department Minister, NK Pradhan, inaugurated the exhibition at Star Hall complex this evening. Also present at the function were Lok Sabha MP, PD Rai and Gangtok MLA, Dorjee Namgyal along with other delegates.
The photo exhibition will be open till Saturday, 26 May.