Reliving Ganapati festival captured through the lens

PUNE: A few days from now, Ganapati festival will draw to a close but the myriad colours, sights and vivid images of the celebration will come alive once again, courtesy a photography exhibition called Bappagraphy.
“We thought of holding an exhibition of photographs clicked during the festival so that people can relive the precious moments once again through the photos,” said Kushal Khot, the organizer of the event, which has been taking place for the past eight years.The exhibition would be held online this year due to Covid-induced restrictions.
Photographers@Pune, a community of shutterbugs, too would showcase photos of previous years’ Ganapati festival on their Facebook page. “All the members will meet online and share old memories of the festival,” said Soumitra Inamdar, a founding member of the group.
In view of the restrictions on celebrations imposed by the authorities, the Bappagraphy team has decided to accept photos of previous years too. “The competition would be judged on three aspects — ‘Ganpati idol’, ‘moods, expressions and emotions of the festival’ and ‘Bappa story’,” said Khot.
The Bappagraphy competition attracts around 500-600 entries every year, many of them from Australia, the US and the UK. Only the best 300 photos are exhibited. Photographer Milind Dhere, who has been associated with the event for several years, said, “Though Bappagraphy involves street photography, there will be more indoor photos this year due to the restrictions on public celebration.”