The 3rd National Photography Awards were conferred on Monday by the Honorable Chief Justice of India P Sathasivam to eminent photojournalists at a function held in the National Media Centre. The Hon'ble Chief Justice conferred 13 awards in various categories which included the Life-Time Achievement Award to eminent photographer Rajesh Bedi. Awards were also conferred in the Special Mention Category for both Amateur and Professional segments.
Speaking on the occasion, Hon'ble Chief Justice of India, P. Sathasivam said that due to the daunting sphere of piracy in the domain of photojournalism, professional photographers must be aware of their lawful rights in order to flourish as professionals in their field. While Copyright protection did exist, it was necessary for the photojournalists to register their copyrights for enforcing their rights in case there were instances of infringements.
"The perusal of this process by photojournalists would not only protect their work, it would also register their copyrights making it easier to track down potential infringers and enable them to obtain a license legitimately for their creative work thereby avoiding the hassle of litigation," Hon'ble Chief Justice added.
The Chief Justice also stated that photography had become an integral part of human life and thus could no longer be considered an affluent hobby. The initiative by the Photo Division was an acknowledgement of the vision and effort put in by the pioneers of the Indian Photographic Movement.
Speaking earlier on the occasion, Bimal Julka, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, conveyed that "through the efforts of Photo Division, the photography as a medium had acquired a new meaning. Digitization had become the accepted norm and technology had become the driving force in this field. The Photo Division through its fully featured systems had brought about innovation in various aspects of photography. The different awards conferred in the various categories was an attempt to capture the growth of professionalism and creativity within the growing dimensions of photojournalism.