Aaranyak’s travelling nature and wildlife photography exhibition, titled Van Sobi 2.0, concluded its Nagaon edition on 3 August at Pranab Baruah Kalakshetra. Organised in collaboration with the cultural group Kallol, the event is part of the conservation organisation’s 35-year milestone celebrations across Assam.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Nagaon-Batardava MLA Rupak Sarmah and Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Devasish Sarma. Addressing attendees, Sarma highlighted the need to reconnect with nature and encouraged public engagement with conservation. He underlined photography’s potential to raise awareness about environmental issues and acknowledged Aaranyak’s longstanding efforts in biodiversity protection.
MLA Rupak Sarmah expressed appreciation for Aaranyak and Kallol’s initiative and noted the importance of balancing ecological sustainability with development. He also referred to the Assam government’s ongoing plantation drives.
Dr Partha J. Das, Executive Committee Member at Aaranyak, anchored the programme. Also present were Aaranyak’s Organising Secretary Udayan Borthakur, and Kallol Secretary Naushad Akhter Hazarika. Borthakur spoke about Aaranyak’s conservation themes, while Hazarika discussed the cultural dimensions of the event.
The exhibition included a panel discussion titled The Importance of Photography as a Medium for Nature Conservation and Awareness, moderated by Das. The panellists included filmmaker Arup Manna, critic Arindam Borkataki, and conservationist Smarajit Ojha. The discussion explored how visual storytelling through photography could help shape public understanding of the natural world.
A technical session was led by Borthakur, who demonstrated how photography merges art and technology to tell impactful conservation stories. He discussed the process of forming a visual idea, choosing appropriate techniques, and assigning meaning to an image to enhance its environmental message.
Featuring more than 45 photographs by 31 photographers from across India, the exhibition attracted nature enthusiasts and environmental advocates. It concluded with an informal discussion titled Looking at Nature Through the Lens: The Synergy Between Nature and Creativity.
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