World Nature Conservation Day: Nature inFocus Festival inspires people to love and protect nature
In this photo essay from this outstanding nature festival, we share a range of wildlife photographs and curator insights.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks celebrates the spirit of creativity and innovation. In earlier 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.
World over, July 28 is celebrated as World Nature Conservation Day, while July 29 is marked as International Tiger Day. Both set the stage for the Nature inFocus Festival 2023, which spans awards for photography and filmmaking along with an exhibition on sustainable living.
In this photo essay, we highlight some of the outstanding photographs on display at the festival, which is being held from 28-30 July at Jayamahal Palace, Bengaluru. The theme for this year's festival is The Time for Change.
See our photo essays on the earlier editions of the awards in 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017. Also check out our compilation of proverbs and quotes on the occasion of World Environment Day, Earth Day, and World Oceans Day.
This festival—which is making a comeback after a three-year gap—features film screenings, panel discussions, art installations, book releases, masterclasses, and a live performance by the band Indian Ocean.
Rohit Varma
“For our Nature inFocus photography competition this year, we received 20,000 images from 1,500 participants. The photographers were from 20 countries,” Nature inFocus founder Rohit Varma tells YourStory.
The festival also features 27 photographs by winners of the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Together, the two photography exhibitions offer an inspiring visual treat for visitors.
“We also have a special masterclass on storytelling. It is important for filmmakers to develop ideas into stories that engage audiences and can also sell to networks,” Rohit explains.
The masterclass features three speakers: Gautam Pandey (Looking for Sultan; Gyamo – Queen of The Mountains), Akanksha Sood Singh (On the Brink), and Rita Banerji (Founding Director, Green Hub Project). Screened films include Puffin Island, Nature's Magic Moments, and Are Climate Doomers Right?
“Films take the awareness mission about nature to the next level. They foster a stronger emotional connect between viewers and nature,” Rohit affirms.
The speaker lineup features Dia Mirza, UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador; K Ullas Karanth, Emeritus Director, Centre for Wildlife Studies; Vance Martin, President, Wilderness Foundation; and Nithin Kamath, Co-founder of Zerodha and Founding Director of Rainmatter Foundation.
In this photo essay, we feature the travel, research, and sustainable lifestyle exhibition, as well as photographs from the lineup which includes the works of Merche Llobera, Christian Ziegler, Aakash Selvan, and Dileep SS.
“The moment you fall in love with nature, you start making small changes to your lifestyle, such as reducing the use of plastic bottles,” the festival founder and curator explain.
“When hundreds of thousands of people are influenced to make such changes, they all add up and eventually benefit nature,” Varma signs off.
Now what have you done today to pause your busy schedule and do your bit for nature and our precious habitat?
(All photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at the festival.)
See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.
Edited by Akanksha Sarma