Entrepreneur inspires women to take up photography

An entrepreneur, Vasanthy Shrikanth took to photography in 2016 because of her passion for the craft. While venturing out to take pictures, she realised that there is a dearth of women photographers in the city. During that time, she met Srivatsan Sankaran, founder of Madras Photo Bloggers (MPB), who inspired her to mentor aspiring women photographers from Chennai. They formed a community called MPB Wonder Women Photography and started organising all-women photo walks.

“Photography is a male-dominated profession and there are only a handful of women photographers in India. I wanted to encourage women to step out of the four walls and explore everything around them. Photography is one of the best mediums to showcase a woman’s artistic skills,” says Vasanthy, who won the Lady Photographer Trophy Award that’s instituted by APAC Photography Institute.

Bringing these women photographers onto the streets, she has led all-women photo walks in the city. “MPB is the first photography community in India to come up with photo walks exclusively for women. So far, we have organised three all-women photo walks – at Marina Beach, Triplicane and Dakshina Chitra. Fifteen women between the age group of 20 and 35 participate in these walks. They are so passionate about photography and I teach them the nuances of photography,” she explains.

A photograph captures a moment in time in its actuality and that’s its beauty. A great stress-buster, photography helps in conveying stories so beautifully and artistically at the same time. Vasanthy will be leading a photo walk at Kancheepuram, where participants will get to document stories of the weavers and capture candid images of people and their lifestyles.

“Kancheepuram is not only famous for its richness in cultural architecture and temple town, but it is also rich in the production of silk sarees. Weaving is one of the major occupations of the people living there. Usually, photographers visit the place to capture the architectural beauty of the town. No one makes an effort to visit the weaving units and take photographs. So, we thought of bringing some newness to the photo walk. We will be visiting the weaving village called Vandavasi and observe their weaving activities. We will also be talking to them and understand how they weave sarees, what type of equipment they use, what challenges they undergo and so on. This would be a great photography opportunity for women. Moreover, silk sarees are women’s favourite garment and participants would be thrilled to learn about the nine-yard wonder,” remarks Vasanthy.