Photographer Of the Year 2011.February 1, 2012

New Delhi , January 23, 2012:  Better Photography, one of India’s leading photography magazines held the much awaited contest, Photographer Of the Year 2011. Stated as one of India’s biggest photography awards, the competition is now in its seventh year.

This year the competition promises to be grander and even more challenging. The contest was open to all and there were photo enthusiasts, hobbyists, students of photography and even professionals who participated and who are eagerly awaiting recognition on a national platform.

The entries were collected through a dedicated website (http://www.betterphotography.in/poy/) as well as physical print entries by post were accepted. The last date of submission was December 31^st 2011 and the magazine received a record breaking 66,782 entries from towns, cities all over India and was open even for Non Residential Indians.

The contest did not have an entry fee and the entrants were allowed to participate in multiple themes with a maximum of four entries per theme. For the photo essay, participants could send up to two series of images-each containing a minimum of six and maximum of 12 images.

The awards are being sponsored by Title Partner Canon along with Associate Partner Canvera and Television Partner CNBC TV18. The theme winners will be whisked off to an exotic location for the final face-off wherein they would have the opportunity to experience new and exciting attractions as they compete to earn the title of Canon-Better Photography Photographer of the Year 2011.

 

As the grand prize, the winner will receive a Canon EOS 7D, among other exciting prizes and could win an opportunity to be recognized on a national level by the magazine.

 

The categories were judged on January 8, 2012 by prominent judges who have shortlisted the theme winners.

The categories and judges are as follows:

Photo Essay: Song of the Road was judged by Mr. Amit Madheshiya and Mr. Mahindra Parikh. Landscapes: Play of Light  was judged by Soumitra Pendse and Mr. Hari Mahidar .
Still Life: Obvious Things was judged by Mr. Ian Pereira and Mr. Sunil Raju
Portraiture: I, Me, Myself was judged by Mr. David de Souza  and Mr. Ashok Salian
Wildlife: Animal Behavior was judged by Mr. Kedar Bhide and Mr. Anish Andheria
The Joy of Colour: was judged by Mr. Swapan Mukherjee  and Ms. Amrita Ganguly Salian
Life on the Streets was judged by Mr. Indranil Mukherjee and Mr. Mukesh Parpiani
Reflections was judged by Mr. Amit Ashar and Mr. Jagdish Agarwal

Better Photography editor, K Madhavan Pillai said “The number of entries was unbelievable and to receive a response from the smallest towns to the biggest metros in India was astonishing. It’s the seventh year for the contest and we are going strong. During the category judging we realized that there is so much untapped talent in the country. We plan to conduct many more opportunities through photography to explore the talent and capabilities of the people of India.”

The Face Off will be held in Mumbai from 29^th- 31^st January 2012 and eight contestants from different cities will come to Mumbai to fight it out in a decisive final face off where they will click photographs under the themes provided to them.

The final title winner along with the eight category winners would be announced on1st February 2012 in Mumbai. There would be a gallery of the nominated and winning photographs for an exclusive first look to the guests present.

The contest was promoted on a large scale through television promos on CNBC TV18, CNN IBN, Awaaz, CNN IBN, IBN Lokmat, magazine advertisements in Better Photography, Overdrive, T3, Chip, AV Max, Better Interiors, Entrepreneur, Burrp, Noise Factory along with banner ads across web18 sites including In.com , Moneycontrol.com , Ibnlive, Ibn khabar, Cricketnext.com  and e-mailers to the vast Network 18 database.