CWC 9. Walls here have no scroll bars.
9th Annual Photo Exhibition by Chennai Weekend Clickers.
In a day, amidst tonnes of photographs that cascade down our walls of various photo sharing platforms, if your work stops the scroll wheel that’s rolled frantically, for a second or two and gets noticed, then Hooray! You have done a good job with the photograph. Few seconds later, the wheel rolls again and your image becomes a thing of past. Welcome to the digital era where a few seconds of glare on your image means it has had its fair share of limelight, however good it was and eventually gets sucked into the zone of nothingness. The black hole zone. If it can get a minute’s attention, then the photograph attains a cult status comparatively. But it can’t escape the algorithm. The black hole awaits.
Good photographs barring a very few, would be lost anyway. Maybe lost forever and forgotten forever. But this seemingly cruel act is actually isn’t so when no one has got time to engage with a good photograph when you have thousands of them waiting in queue for that few seconds of your attention.
Thanks to Chennai Weekend Clickers, known among the city’s photography aficionados as CWC, to have brought a whole new forum for interaction that every work deserves and yearns for. And it does this with the enthusiasm, participation and purpose growing year on year.
The idea is to exhibit wide range of works with arts in prints & frames and artists in flesh & blood to share the efforts and ideas gone behind each work and much more. And in the process celebrate art in its truest form and engage them all in a conversation.
What a sight would it be to the artist in you to take a step back and observe viewers appreciate your work, frown at your work or just smile at it. And to see a few, listen to it too. But essentially they all converse with your conceived perception, with their own, which is the very purpose of making art. And CWC is at the forefront in providing the right impetus to the cause.
CWC is a photography community that welcomes people from different walks of life with one common goal that is to enjoy the art of photographing and eventually turn it into a medium of expression. But people in CWC will tell you that there is lot more to it than meets the eye. What would start as just photography would then go beyond that in exploring different places, people and cultures across the country. So CWC is all about travel, friends, fun and few photographs in between, defying all the conventions that usually surround a photography community.
Few years ago, I just stopped by and almost barged into an exhibition on its final day, final moments, when most of the frames were already off the hooks. Little did I know that it was CWC’s 5th year annual photo exhibition. I was awestruck by the visuals presented there. Be it the portraits or streets or landscapes, the monochromes or the vibrant hues, the visuals were beyond impeccable and I was all absorbed. I always believe CWC was that stroke of serendipity in my life, that got me into the beautiful and never ending process of learning photography and contribute to the art form in the most unassuming ways.
And on how to join it. CWC has no membership fee. Yes, you heard it right. All one needs to do is sign up the group on Flickr, an image hosting service where every activity of the community will be discussed by the members, like photo walks on weekends within the city to travel walks to visiting various festivals. From a Koovagam, an annual Transgender Festival to a Kulasai Dussehra Festival, from a Pushkar Livestock Fair to a Lathmar Holi of Barsana, every festival is covered that span different cultures of different states in India. With over 700 photo walks to its name, CWC is one of the most active photography communities in the country.
CWC 9 is the 9th year photo exhibition in a row that exhibits works of various artists, members and non-members alike, in different categories. First it starts with a Showcase category where new members of CWC get to share their works in a dedicated space. There is also an Open category for photographers to exhibit works on varied themes and as the name suggests it is open to anyone. A Solo category is dedicated to artists who would like to exhibit their body of work on different themes of their choice. And then there is Instafest category which is considered to be the most creative and a showpiece category where participants have to choose a theme and work on it for 30 days to post an image each day on Instagram for 30 days. Finally these 30 images will be showcased in a special segment in the event. Additionally this year there is a photo contest too, on the theme Madras Moments inviting all enthusiasts on social media to participate and the winning images will be exhibited.
Thanks to CWC for choosing my work Life inside a Furnace to be on display this year. A tiny speck in the vast pool of amazing works. Happy, honored, humbled.
The event laced with many interactive sessions will be usually up for a week and this year is no different. From April 06 to 14, the event will take place in different venues in the city like Spaces (Besant Nagar), Cholamandal Artist Village (ECR), Madras Literary Society (College Road) and Marina Mall (OMR).
CWC cordially invites one and all to be a part of this week long spectacle and witness some of the best works in photography. Apparently the event is a prelude to what will be the most awaited and momentous occasion for Chennai Weekend Clickers, the 10th exhibition to happen next year involving more new themes and artists and could well be named as Chennai Photo Festival.
So, to all the folks who look forward to having their vision seen and ideas heard, hop on the CWC bandwagon.
