Ode to Water-A Unique Initiative this World Photography Day by Iqbal Mohammed and Light and life Academy.
Contest and Exhibition cum sale
One Cause that generated
2000 + entries for a contest without prizes
5000 + visitors over 3 days
200 + children as water heroes
200 + images bought contributors
Thousands left with positive vibes
“An Ode To Water” invited entries through Instagram that cherish the element of water and draw awareness to its sheer beauty and importance. This was a contest without a prize, at least not in the conventional sense. Every photograph submitted for the contest was a pledge to support and a winning contribution to the cause.
The contest garnered more than 2000 entries from all over India. All of them celebrated, in their own way, breathtaking forms of the Nature of Water. 50 photographs from these entries were painstakingly shortlisted and were prepped to be exhibited at Express Avenue starting on the 16th of August to culminate on World Photography Day, the 19th of August.
“Speaking on the success of the exhibition, LLA founder and leading photographer Iqbal Mohamed said, “In the thousands of entries we received, I could see the immense passion of photographers from all over India who have participated so enthusiastically to shoot for a cause. People who have seen the exhibition so far have been excited about how differently, and in such varied ways, water was captured and with so much positivity.”
Having a show in a place like Express Avenue, was an inspired choice for an exhibition of this kind. Despite the typical distraction of the sound and action in a mall, the people who were drawn to the exhibition said that they had a spiritual experience. A sense of quiet and peace. This reinforced my belief in the power of photography.”
Alongside the exhibition, LLA ran an activity for children at Express Avenue on August 18th. An interactive game in which the participants became “Water Heroes” who found new recruits to join their “army” in the cause of saving water. They walked around the mall, convinced people to become “Water Soldiers”, and clicked photographs of their new recruits. Over 200 children joined in the activity to build an army of people who were dedicated to the cause of conserving water, giving us immense hope for the future of water.
“As part of our 9 year anniversary celebrations EA is inspired to contribute to an important cause in the time as we stand today and choosing to partner LLA one of the finest academy as an Ode to Water the Elixir of Life on this planet.
It was encouraging to witness more than 200+ Kids participating in the Water Hero activity and taking a pledge to use water intelligently as the future generation.
We are also glad that our shoppers have significantly contributed towards the cause
An Ode to Water by encouraging the amazing collections of photographs taken by the wonderful photographers and showcased in our Central Atrium for 4 days.
We feel fortunate that we were able to accomplish our objective to draw the necessary attention of Chennaites and people at large all across the country through the initiative of LLA to organize this exhibition & contest to celebrate World Photography Day on 19th August” says Munish Khanna, CRO – Express Avenue
From little drops of water to seemingly endless oceans, the most outstanding pictures were exhibited and made available for sale to the public at Express Avenue in the form of prints, postcards and bookmarks. Proceeds from the sales went to the NGO, Environmentalist Foundation of India (E.F.I), an environmental conservation group based out of Chennai. E.F.I is known for its work in the cleaning and scientific restoration of lakes in India and have made some important strides towards long term conservation of water.
An Ode to Water witnessed a footfall in the 1000s each day and many expressed interest and intrigue in this unique initiative. That the photography community was willing to dedicate their work to a greater cause was largely appreciated. The enthusiastic public crowd included prominent photographers and other artists from the city, as well as several emerging photographers who visited from across the country to see their work on display.
A lot of visitors felt they came into the exhibition to see some great pictures but left feeling good about learning and helping with a cause as well. (Nearly 200 people contributed to the cause by purchasing photographs, postcards and bookmarks.) Some of those who attended the exhibition were so moved by the photographs on display, that they decided to write poems!
Iqbal Mohamed and Light & Life Academy are truly grateful to Express Avenue for the wonderful space that is the Central Atrium which had an abundance of light throughout the day to contribute to the visual experience of the exhibition, drawing a continuous stream of viewers from across demographic and socio-cultural backgrounds. Such a vibrant, lively space and all the additional help they provided was significant in making An Ode to Water a success. And more importantly being a part of the EA 9th Anniversary efforts.
We would also like to thank Krispy Kreme for the doughnuts provided to our army of water heroes, the real icing to a highly charged activity.
Located in Ooty, Light & Life Academy is the first and only custom-designed, full-facility institute exclusively for the study of professional photography in India. It was established in 2001 by leading photographer Iqbal Mohamed and advertising professional Anuradha Iqbal with the objective of providing affordable professional photography education of a high standard. They recently launched India’s first comprehensive online photography course, called “LLA Online”, in 9 Indian languages and English to the LLA way of imparting education widely available.
www.llacademy.com
www.iqbalmohamed.com
www.llaonline.in
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