Photographs come alive to tell a story

Vajranabh Natraaj Maharshi is hosting his eighth exhibition called ‘Conflict’ at State Art Gallery.

Hyderabad: By highlighting different concepts and expressing ideas through photos, Vajranabh Natraaj Maharshi, a conceptual photographer tries to communicate through his lens. Earlier a filmmaker who used to direct independent films, he found what he was meant to become – a photographer.

Maharshi is now hosting his eighth exhibition in Hyderabad called the ‘Conflict’ at the State Art Gallery, which is based on children’s conflicts.

“When someone asks me about my childhood, I have a lot to say but this generation has memories only through electronics,” he says. These days parents do not have much time to spend with their kids leading to this social media generation with multiple conflicts. “I try to capture these aspects of life and portray the same through my photographs,” he says.

His exhibition of photographs, which is sponsored by the Telangana government, started on January 6, and closes on January 12.

Maharshi started questioning his future after he met with an accident in 2015, which led him to bed rest for more than a year. When the doctor told him he will not be able to walk, he knew he could not return to directing. And that is when he turned towards the camera for his profession.

“I went in a wheelchair with my assistant to the market and bought all the equipments. I learned the fundamentals of camera and how to use it and then clicked a picture which went viral. Since then, capturing the wide and varied aspects of life and people, has become like meditation to me,” he says.

Maharshi bagged many international awards and hosted exhibitions and had a different series of photography for each of his exhibitions like the Paradigm of Childhood, Tug of War, and Journey of Self-Atonement.