Yearbook Report 2009-2010

This year, the society’s 61^st, we decided to organize more workshops- a break in tradition form last year when we celebrated the society’s 60^th birthday with a string of competitions in college, which led up to the main event. The main event being an exhibition of the works of renowned Stephanian photographers along with the best works of students. We realized that many of our students have an interest in learning Photography but have never had an opportunity to do so. Hence, we tried to provide the necessary platform during this academic session. 

We started our activities in August with a lecture by Pablo Bartholomew, recipient of the World Press Photo Award and celebrated World Photography Day on the 19^th of the same month with a portfolio review by Amit Mehra, senior photographer with Indian Express. Later we had a workshop on ‘lights and silhouettes’ by Aditya Arya. We realized that although individual workshops like these help guide students, we still have to provide something that is more structured and starts with the basics. Hence we decided to start a certificate course on Photography in college, with Andre Fanthome as the instructor. He had organized outdoor shooting sessions in Lodi Gardens, Jantar Mantar and Flower Market in Fatehpuri along with the ‘theory’ classes.

 ‘Frames’, our annual festival, was no longer limited to Delhi University. It was celebrated on a National platform with more than 650 photo entries by more than 70 photographers from colleges across the country. The first phase was a National Online Photography Competition in November, judged by Sandeep Biswas and Neeraj Preeya Darshi, photo editors of Indian Express. The second phase consisted of an exhibition of 24 shortlisted pictures that were framed and displayed in college on the 2^nd and 3^rd of February along with a workshop on ‘Panoramic Photography’ by Amit Pasricha. A significant achievement this year has been the creation of the society’s own website, primarily for frames.  

We also had occasional photographic excursions to Chandni Chowk, Chawri Baazar, Majnu ka Tila and Paharganj, but reflecting on the reputation of these places for the delectable delicacies one finds here - for the eyes as well as the stomach - one must wonder if there were gastronomic ulterior motives in choosing these locations. After all, photographers cannot work on an empty stomach, can they?