How this award-winning forest officer promotes conservation through wildlife photography

Saturday June 16, 2018 , 2 min Read

In Part I of our photo essay on the exhibition ‘Birds as Art’ at Sublime Galleria, we present the colourful works of MN Jayakumar.

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 210 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

Sublime Galleria in Bengaluru presents an exhibition this month, titled ‘Birds as Art.’ It features the works of MN Jayakumar, a nature photographer and former forestry official. The exhibition showcases his technique and perseverance in observing the natural behaviour of birds. From aerial acrobatics and courtship displays, to nesting and feeding, his works evoke a wide range of emotions.

Over a hundred international organisations have joined forces to declare 2018 as the Year of the Bird; the year also marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This serves as an appropriate backdrop for Jayakumar’s exhibition promoting awareness and appreciation of the beauty of birds, and the importance of conserving their habitat.

Jayakumar’s works span a wide range of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India, and have also been captured in two books: Encounters in the Forest, and Life in the Jungle. Some of these images are showcased in this edition of PhotoSparks as well. The displayed art works are priced in the range Rs 12,000 to Rs 18,000.

For his outstanding work, Jayakumar has won awards, certificates and recognition such as Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society, England (FRPS), and Artiste of the Federation Internationale De L’art Photographique. His photographs have been displayed at exhibitions in more than a dozen countries. Jayakumar joins us in an interview in Part II of this photo essay.

Now, what have you done today to learn about our precious wildlife heritage, and take part in conserving the beauty of our natural world?

Got a creative photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!

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