Bengaluru: 13-year-old photographer with an eye for nature and wildlife

BENGALURU: A 13-year-old wildlife photography enthusiast from the city will be holding a three-day exhibition, in association with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), at Chitrakala Parishath from November 24 to 26. The photographer, Vedansh Pandey, a class VIII student, said, “A photograph is not made on the camera, it is made on either side of it. Being an environmentalist, I feel great pleasure to use my love of photography to create awareness about the beauty of the wild.”

The exhibition will be inaugarated by Hari Somashekhar, WWF State Director for Karnataka. The budding wildlife photographer was the only child speaker at the Global Environment Summit held at National Institute of Advanced Studies. This rare sense of maturity stems from the fact that Vedansh has been involved in wildlife photography since his childhood. “I grew up in Mysuru and Malnad and I just fell in love with the nature there. This love for nature and animals led me towards photography, as I just wanted to freeze time and capture the moment.”

Vedansh also developed a special affinity to the forests of Karnataka and credits the lush Western Ghats as the inspiration for his photography. “In my opinion,. Karnataka is the state with the best wildlife in the country. The sheer diversity of the species, the beauty of their habitats and their sumptuous blending all contribute towards a good photograph”, he says.

His love for Karnataka’s wildlife will be on display in his exhibition, as majority of the photographs are from the forests of the state. On being asked about what he intends to convey through his photography, he said, “I want to raise awareness about wildlife conservation and the beauty of the forests of Karnataka. We must work together in order to conserve our forests and give back to nature what it has given us.”