The Wide Angle - Academy of Excellence in Photography

“Photography is more than a medium for factual communication of ideas. It is a creative art“ -

Ansel Adams.

Photography is an art that lends life to one’s imagination. A photograph is a moment frozen in time and captured for eternity. Having the best of equipment does not necessarily qualify one as a great photographer. A whole gamut of intricacies goes into producing one great picture. Skill sets are acquired as a process of constant learning and evolution.

The need for an organized colloquium to identify talent and encourage this art paved the way for creating Wide Angle.

Wide Angle: The Academy of Excellence in Photography is a forum that provides a platform for all creative photographers to nurture, hone and transform their skills to a scale of excellence. Open to all people sans community, sex or nationality the cornerstones of this community are based on the four ‘E’s - execute, exchange, educate & excel.

Wide angle encourages members to be interactive and participative by sharing their work, views, doubts & knowledge creating the perfect atmosphere for wholesome learning leading to quality output.

Focus

Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep – Howard Aiken

This is precisely that which Wide Angle endeavors to do – Provide opportunities to learn from the masters in achieving perfection in photography.

Wide Angle is not another run of the mill site for photography. Its objective is to make a difference to its members in every aspect related to the art.

• To provide a site for photographers [amateurs & professionals] to showcase their talent through displaying their work and allow for exchange of ideas and inputs from various quarters within the parameters of professional discipline and etiquette.
• Encouraging them in their creative pursuit by offering the best of their work as stock photos for purchase by the general public.
• Organizing interactive lectures and creative workshops by stalwarts in the field for members exclusively, to encourage constant learning and exposure to hitherto unexplored avenues in the subject
• To serve as a forum to enable members to exchange technical knowledge by introducing and providing constant updates on the latest equipments / gadgets
• To organize events / contests that nurture healthy competition and bring to the fore hitherto hidden potential in upcoming professionals
• Plan trips to places that offer great scope for photography in terms of subjects & landscape.

The Composition

What happens when three highly talented and intensely creative people get together for a chat on their favorite subject - Photography?

The atmosphere is charged with a plethora of ideas born out of a wealth of knowledge. To culminate these into productive possibilities requires a vision extraordinaire.

Especially when it involves a broader spectrum of sharing acquired knowledge, with unknown enthusiasts, who could in all possibility get one up. But these were individuals who firmly believed in Arthur Koestler ‘s words -

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.

Thus was born Project Wide Angle.

The Pillars behind Wide Angle - Prabhakaran Sambandam, Kausthub Desikachar & Raghu Lakshminarayan – share a common passion in photography apart from being immensely gifted individuals with a thirst for learning.

While exchanging anecdotes and personal experiences they felt the need to have a community that could bring together people with similar interest in a cohesive manner and sustain interest

Once the Focus was in place, all Angles were explored and the Negatives Cropped, the Subject was Developed and Exposed into a meaningful channel called Wide Angle.

Calling the shots…Men behind the action!

Prabhakaran Sambandam is an avid photo enthusiast with an eye for detail - perhaps sharpened by his professional expertise as an antique dealer. Into serious photography since 2005 Prabhakaran endears himself to everyone with his readiness to impart all the knowledge that he has without restraint. Open to new ideas his areas of interest include Landscape, architecture, Portrait, Wildlife, Birds and Food photography.

Kausthub Desikachar holds a Doctorate from the Madras University and is an ardent practitioner of Yoga. Widely travelled his passion for photography leads him to experiment with varied formats. A member of the Royal Photographic Society, UK, Kaushtub has also edited books on photography. A self taught photographer, his portfolio has exceptional creative’s that have been displayed in exhibitions.

For someone who thrives on challenges and demands perfection in everything he does Raghu Lakshminarayanan’s foray into photography was no surprise to those around him. A multi faceted personality, who heads an IT firm, photography perhaps best satiates his restless creativity. Keen to gain overall mastery in this art – be it landscape, wild life, food, sports, birds or architecture – his no holds barred attitude to learning from any source has seen him come up with some exceptional work.