IHC-AIDMI Fellowship on Photography:

 

Living in Harmony with Nature 2010

 

 

  

 

 

 BACKGROUND

 

 

  

 

 

 The India Habitat Centre has established itself as a locus, a platform for cultural activity, where there is an opportunity to display creative talent or witness excellence on display. The Visual Arts Gallery of the India Habitat Centre has come a long way since its inception in the July 2000 and has been a hub of uninterrupted art activity spanning different genres, and crossing many a boundaries. From visual art to seminars and now traversing the path of the digital world, the Visual Arts Gallery has a finger on the pulse of contemporary art trends leading to a sharing and union of energies and ideas. The Gallery works in a multi-dimensional manner. Showcasing two-dimensional and three-dimensional works we are trying to bring the best of art traditions both nationally and internationally. There is also an interface between what is termed 'high art' to popular art traditions, very much in keeping with the philosophy and vision of the India Habitat Centre.
In the last eight years we have been supporting art, crafts, material culture, emerging talent, and also the medium of photography. The immediacy of the medium of photography forms an inherent trajectory of the visual arts. Photography is now a serious art practice and we have hosted works by some of the well-known photographers of the country whose photo exhibits indeed herald the coming age of photography, and speak of the new levels to which photography is being taken.

 

 

  

 

 

 In an effort to promote photography as an art form, the Visual Arts Gallery instituted an award for photography in the year 2003 - The India Habitat Centre Fellowship for Photography. This is being awarded every year and more information on this award is available on our website www.indiahabitat.org

 

 

  

 

 

 India Habitat Centre has now decided to set up another Photography Fellowship Award– LIVING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE - in keeping with its key mandate of focusing on habitat related issues and paying keen attention to the rising impact of natural disasters and climate change on the citizens and economic growth of India. This is being instituted in partnership with All India Disaster Management Institute (AIDMI), Ahmedabad and will focus on a very critical aspect that is confronting human habitats today: preparedness against & recovery from natural disasters, and adaptation to the impact of climate change. The impact is not only the dwelling unit but also on air, water, food, trees, birds and more. It is possible to combine pressing economic concerns and ecological challenges faced by habitat sector if creativity of India’s citizens’ is recognized, and recorded, one way to do so is through photography.

 

 

  

 

 

NAME OF PHOTOGRAPHY FELLOWSHIP AWARD:

 

 

 

 

 

 LIVING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE

 

 

 

 

 

 Each year there will be a sub-theme for the Award on any key dimension of a recent disaster.

 

 

  

 

 

 PARTNERS FOR AWARDING THE FELLOWSHIP:

 

 

  

 

 

 India Habitat Centre, New Delhi and All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), Ahmedabad.

 

 

  

 

 

 AIDMI was established in 1995 and is a community based action and learning organization working in six states in India and several countries in India’s neighbourhood.

 

 

  

 

 

 THE FELLOWSHIP AWARD:

 

 

  

 

 

 The Fellowship Award is for an amount of Rs.1,20,000/- and the winner’s works will be showcased in a week-long photography exhibition at the India Habitat Centre’s Visual Arts Gallery in the summer the following year. This year the focus is on the ‘Cloudburst in Leh and the recovery thereafter’.

 

 

  

 

 

 THE CONTEXT:

 

 

  

 

 

 Natural and man-made disasters are not new but there is a perception that they are occurring more frequently and the extent of damage is also increasing with each new disaster. A different school might argue that modern technology enables media to visibilise it more easily and thus make it more of a reality than before. But it is a reality that we are living in times where we are seeing some of the worst floods, earthquakes, cloudbursts, droughts and the not-so- distant-past Tsunami among other manifestations. While there is debate and discourse on the causes of disasters it is increasingly evident that life on our planet is being ever more impacted negatively by them. Perhaps there is a seemingly vicious cycle of human action that advertently or inadvertently contributes to their occurrence and then moves heaven and earth to address their aftermath through relief, recovery and rehabilitation processes. However, it is surely and certainly becoming necessary for us to live in harmony with nature providing adequate thought and consideration to the use and deployment of natural resources appropriately and innovatively. Needless to say, this will safeguard our interests and that of our children and future generations, and undeniably that of our planet.

 

 

  

 

 

 Disasters have always brought with them destruction and caused devastation to hundreds of thousands of lives and human livelihoods. It has likewise brought valuable lessons and there have been many responses and interventions to prevent occurrences, address and mitigate damage, and enable innovative responses so that quality of life and harmony with nature can be restored. These have been through the common sense approaches, innovations, appropriate technology - through individual and/or collective approaches at the state, civil society or individual levels. Much of this has been documented, replicated, upscaled and undeniably made a difference to scores of lives.

 

 

  

 

 

 Through this Photography Fellowship Award we seek to provide an opportunity to aspiring applicants to not just visually document the aftermath of a disaster but also bring to light and represent the meaningful, unique and innovative ways in which inhabitants of India have been enabled to ‘live in harmony with nature’.

 

 

  

 

 

 CRITERIA:

 

 

  

 

 

 This is not a portfolio competition. The Award will go to a photographer who demonstrates his/her ability to work on a long-term project by conceiving and writing a concise, focused and meaningful story proposal. The accompanying images need to justify the written proposal. Thus, any proposal sent as application for the Fellowship should be a photo-essay or photo-story and not a single photograph.

 

 

  

 

 

 The photos must show impact of disaster and the reasons, how people overcome, recover, and how recovery can be “green” and “clean” if it is so done .

 

 

  

 

 

 It should:

 

 

  

 

 

 1. Begin with the vulnerability of human life in a pre-selected region, which could be due to man-made developments or natural causes

 

 

  

 

 

 2. Be able to depict humans ‘coping’ with that vulnerability and human’s ability to adjust to natural limitations or overcome them

 

 

  

 

 

 3. Be a lesson for inventive access to energy and water sources.

 

 

  

 

 

 4. It can include any one or all of the following:

 

 

  

 

 

              a. Cover any devastations caused due to the so called conquest of man over nature or

 

 

  

 

 

              b. Document a story that shows if man ever conquers nature or this is a myth

 

 

  

 

 

              c. Depict man living in harmony with nature

 

 

  

 

 

              d. Tell a story of deterioration through blatant violation of nature to bring home man’s cruelties

 

 

  

 

 

              e. Any other approach that is relevant to the theme of the Fellowship Award.

 

 

  

 

 

 ELIGIBILITY:

 

 

  

 

 

 1. Open to Indian Nationals only.

 

 

  

 

 

 2. Open to individual photographers; with media or institutional affiliation.

 

 

  

 

 

 3. Applicant must be below 35 years of age at the time of application.

 

 

  

 

 

 4. Applicant must not hold any other fellowship/scholarship for the submitted project.

 

 

  

 

 

 THE JURY:

 

 

  

 

 

 A three-member jury comprising experts in photography, disaster and habitat will evaluate applications to select the winner of the Fellowship.

 

 

  

 

 

 LAST DATE FOR SENDING ENTRIES:

 

 

  

 

 

 December 25, 2010

 

 

  

 

 

 APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

 

 

  

 

 

 There is no application fee for this Fellowship Award.

 

 

  

 

 

 An application shall comprise the following:

 

 

  

 

 

 1. Project Summary – the summary must clearly specify the intent of the project, the project title, relevant background information and expected course of the project. This summary will play a decisive role in the overall evaluation by the jury committee. This summary should be typed on an A4 sheet and not exceed one page.

 

 

  

 

 

 Please note: The project should be focused on one subject only.

 

 

  

 

 

 2. Image submissions – 12 images should be enclosed with the application. Only Color and B&W photographic prints are acceptable. Should the applicant be using transparency film, then digital prints of the same should be enclosed. The specification for the print size is 20X30 inches. The Resolution should be not lesser than 300dpi. Each print must have the name of the photographer and the project title on the reverse.

 

 

  

 

 

 Please note: Entries with less/more than the required 12 images will be eliminated.

 

 

  

 

 

 3. Caption and/or Title List – should be typed on a separate A4 sheet listing information for each image enclosed in the application.

 

 

  

 

 

 4. Resume/Curriculum Vitae – – typed on an A4 sheet must be enclosed. It should not exceed one page. It should include the applicant’s date of birth and contact details.

 

 

  

 

 

 Submission of Proposal:

 

 

  

 

 

 Applications should be forwarded either electronically, by registered mail or courier. Please write ‘no commercial value’ on the package to avoid extra costs and delays.

 

 

  

 

 

 Submissions will not be returned without a self-addressed and self stamped envelope. Applicants can also opt to collect their submissions from the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003, India.

 

 

  

 

 

 All submissions must be sent to:

 

 

  

 

 

 Dr. Alka Pande,

 

 

 Visual Arts Gallery,

 

 

 India Habitat Centre,

 

 

 Lodhi Road,

 

 

 New Delhi 110003

 

 

 Telephone: +(91) 11-43662024 - 25

 

 

 Fax: +(91) 11-24682010, 24682011

 

 

 Email: vag@indiahabitat.org

 

 

  

 

 

 Confirmation of Awards:

 

 

  

 

 

 The winner of the Fellowship will be declared in December 2010 and awarded during the Annual Arts Evening in December 2010. The recipient will be contacted directly by the IHC. The grant amount will be given to the fellowship winner in three installments over a period one year. Before each installment is given, the candidate will have to furnish a one-page progress report and 15 work prints indicating the direction of the project. He or she will be encouraged to meet with the jury members who will mentor him through the duration of the fellowship to enable him/her to produce a substantial body of meaningful work in sync with Habitat philosophy. The IHC will provide the winning candidate exhibition space after the completion of the project. The IHC will keep 15-framed images from the final body of the project for its permanent collection.

 

 

  

 

 

 Waiver:

 

 

  

 

 

 Please note that the entries will not be returned. The entries will become the sole possession of the India Habitat Centre. The IHC reserves the right to use the images for promotional and non-commercial purposes. The images can also be used in any IHC publication and as well as its website.