Since 2022, the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation and Greater Chennai Corporation Education Department has been joining hands to take photography to government school students in the city.
The programme goes beyond technical training. It creates spaces for reflection, dialogue, and collective learning that support students, teaching fellows, and facilitators.
This year, they worked with six cooperation schools across north and south Chennai, including 298 students from classes five to seven. The series of thematic exhibitions showcasing the works of the students concluded recently in the city.
It brought together diverse bodies of work developed through observation, play, memory, and imagination. As students walked through their schools and neighbourhoods, photography encouraged them to slow down, notice closely, and reflect on their everyday surroundings.
Speaking to Goldwins Paul K, the project manager of CPB Prism, said, “I have seen students expressing themselves more through their photographs. This year, the introduction of magazine making is the highlight of the program.
The students shared their personal stories, narrated photo stories, interests on plants, showcased their friendship and much more interesting way of representing their perspective through the eight-page magazine.”
This year’s series of exhibitions included From Where We Stand, a meditation on perspective and place; Kangal Pesiya Kavidhai that blended poetry and photography reflecting the students’ emotional journey; See Us Smile which was a celebration of joy in everyday life; A World Within Us focused on collection of photographs expressing identity, friendship, curiosity, and feeling; VannAuraPettai reflected the history and lived present of Washermanpet; and finally Colourful Memories, was a curatorial reflection on attention and wonder.