ABOUT THE SOCIETY:
At Catharsis - The Photographic Society of IIEST, Shibpur, we proudly go by the tagline, "A decade old family of engineers turned photographers". A journey that began back in 1971 as BECPhos (B.E. College Photography Society) took rebirth in 2008 as Catharsis out of the sheer love and passion for photography. We urges all of you to let your heart speak and your hands click. Click what you see. Click what you feel. Click what you love. Embrace that budding artist you are, chase the passion you have. Discover the world. Discover people. Discover you.
MANEGERIAL POST:
NAME OF PROFESSOR-IN-CHARGE (PIC): Dr. Partha Bhattacharyya, Department of Electronics and Telecommunications
SECRETARY: Prajwal Nakade
TREASURER: Rahul Meena
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF STUDENTS ACTIVE IN SOCIETY/CLUB ACTIVITIES: 29
ESTIMATED NUMBER OF STUDENT PARTICIPATION THROUGHOUT THE YEAR (IN DAILY ACTIVITIES, EVENTS): 50-70
EVENT LIST UNDER THE SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 2019-20:
Apart from the regular weekly sessions Catharsis organizes in Slater Hall where the new comers are taught the concepts of photography, videography, and editing, here’s a list of activities undertaken by the society during the academic session 2019-20:
1. Fresher’s Video (September, 2019):
Be it the first impression about the college or weird habits of roommates, at the beginning of the session, team Catharsis asked a bunch of fun FAQs to the freshers, the first year kids who just got into the college. It was a light-hearted interaction that was filmed and put up on Catharsis’s YouTube channel.
2. Institute Annual Report (November, 2019):
The institute collaborated with Catharsis for photos to be used in the annual report of IIEST, Shibpur where members of the club were bestowed with the responsibility to take pictures of the campus and the academic departments.
3. Photography Competition:
We conducted 2 online photography competitions open to all students of IIEST, Shibpur.
1. Agomoni (October, 2019): Right before Durga Puja set in, we launched this online competition on theme ‘Puja’
2. Bokeh (November, 2019): This online competition took submissions based on the theme ‘Festival of Lights’
4. Workshop 1 (November, 2019):
An Italian photography maestro, Pino Ninfa, visited our college during his India trip and interacted with the young shutterbugs in a 2-day workshop on photography which was organized by Catharsis.
5. Workshop 2 (January, 2020):
In association with Indian Visual Arts Foundation (IVAF), Catharsis conducted a 2-day workshop on Street Photography (mentors: Sayan Sarkar and Sunita Aich) which also included a photo walk to imbibe practical knowledge in the participants.
6. Photo Tour (December, 2019):
Every year, Catharsis arranges photo tour for the enthusiasts among club members to learn tips and tricks of outdoor photography while exploring the culture of the picturesque places. This year, it was a week-long tour to Varansi.
7. Convocation (January, 2020):
Catharsis covers the Annual Convocation of IIEST, Shibpur and hands over the images to individual degree recipients. This year, the club also worked in the production team of the institute’s convocation video.
8. Coverage of College Events (throughout the session 2019-2020):
Catharsis covered the events held within the campus like Gandhi Jayanti and Crescendo (intra-college band competition of Euphony), among others.
9. Photo Walks (throughout the session 2019-2020):
Throughout the year, Catharsis organizes several photo walks to keep alive the essence of outdoor photography amongst its members, the number being a minimum of 5 to 10. We usually visit the Kolkata side to take pictures.
FLAGSHIP EVENT:
The National Photography Salon cum Exhibition is the flagship event of Catharsis. An in-print and in-public display of photographs of all the deserving artists, the venue of theexhibition exudes an artistic and harlequin vibe that’s eye-catching and engrossing to every passerby. The photographs on the walls are either from the current and ex members of Catharsis along with teachers of the institute, or have been received through entries in competitions. For instance, we have organized an exhibition in the past as a part of a national salon licensed under Federation of Indian Photography (FIP), where photographers throughout India were invited to submit their photographs through our website. Entries are usually accepted in the single photo, documentary, short film, and photo story categories. Single photos are either open theme or theme-based: Monochrome, Travel, Portrait, Fine Art, Landscape, etc. Both videos and photos are accepted under separate categories for documentaries. Themes like environmental issues, girl child education in rural areas, etc. are common here. A panel of judges selected the best out of the thousands of entries in that salon. The accepted ones became a part of a photo catalogue following which the exhibition was organized where the best photos were displayed. Prizes were also distributed to the winners during the event. An exhibition not only helps young shutterbugs gain exposure, providing a professional touch to what they pursue as a hobby, but also highlights the institute’s contributions when summed with a photography salon under an organization as eminent as FIP. The organizing club as well as the college gets recognized on the national platform or even an international one. And at the end of the day, it serves as a token of appreciation for all those who love, practice, and promote art.
LAURELS OF THE STUDENTS OVER THE YEARS TO BE RECOGNIZED: (EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL ACHIEVEMENTS CAN ALSO BE INCLUDED):
Ever since its inception, Catharsis has witnessed exceptional photography talent in the young shutterbugs of the college who have gone on to win competitions and achieve success on the national as well as international platforms. Following are a few notable mentions about current members of the club:
-Twishampati Ghosh
IISER Mohali – Lumiere – Picturesque – 2nd prize
– Rahul Ghosh
1. Got selected for the Exhibition organized by Calcutta University Economics Department
2. Got selected for the exhibition organized by IIT BHU.
3. Got featured in some big pages like The Kolkata Buzz.
– Kastika Das
1. National acceptance – Mathabhanga National salon
2. National acceptance – APCA National salon
-Rahul Shit
1. National acceptance – WMPS (2018)
2. National acceptance – WMPS (2019)
3. National acceptance – MACPA (2018)
4. Jury special nomination – WMPS (2018)
5. Exhibited in:
– World Photographic Forum (WPF) – Photofest
– Sense of Lens
– Global Exposure
– ISM Dhanbad
– IIT Kharagpur
– IIT Delhi
– ISI Kolkata
– St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata
6. Acceptance in National Geographic Yourshot (2017)
7. Youngest Photographer of the year, NatGeo Yourshot 2017.
8. Halla Photography contest
– 2nd prize (Theme – life in Black and white) 2017
– 1st prize (Theme – colour) 2017
– 1st prize (Theme – Childhood) 2018
PLANNED ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIETY FOR FUTURE:
Apart from organizing the events (including national salon and exhibition) and undertaking the projects as mentioned in the list above (for 2019-20), we also intend to incorporate the following activities within the club curriculum in the future:
• More Workshops: Apart from the photography workshop conducted in association with Indian Visual Arts Foundation (IVAF, as previously mentioned) every year, we have communicated with other eminent organizations for conducting workshops in the next academic session:
1. Workshop under Sony: Recently we had the opportunity of interacting with renowned photographer and Sony Ambassador Ganesh Bagal. He threw light upon a collaboration program with Sony (one of world’s leading camera manufacturer) where professionals from Sony will come with all necessary gears and equipments and impart theoretical and practical photography knowledge to the student shutterbugs. It will be conducted as a 2 week workshop and will be completely free.
2. Collaboration with Nikon School: A similar student campaign is organized by Nikon School and Catharsis intends to be a part of that too. Workshops will be conducted by professionals from the company.
3. Amazon Shutterbug Campus Connect: Amazon Shuuterbug or Amazon’s Photography Club has accepted our proposal for a partnership with Catharsis. Under this, they will organise workshops with the students of the club on a variety of photography related topics (club or institute will not have to bear the expenditure as Amazon will take care of that) and students will be able to participate in their competitions free of cost.
4. Further Collaboration with Italian photographer Pino Ninfa: With the overwhelming response Mr. Pino received from the student community of photographers at IIEST, Shibpur, he is interested in working on more photography projects with the enthusiasts. He is also eyeing to visit the institute to interact with the students once again in the coming session and thereafter.
• Photo Magazine: In the coming session, we plan to release a photography magazine of Catharsis (hard copy magazines) which will be designed by us and will showcase photography works of current and ex members of the club.
• Collaborations with other institutes of national importance: Collaborations will be carried out in the form of events where students from both institutes can participate like photography competitions, exhibitions, workshops, and combined photo sessions. Both IIT Kharagpur and Jadavpur University have approached us with such collaborations and we look forward to working with them in the near future.
• Collaboration with other societies of the institute: We plan to collaborate with the other cultural societies of the college and undertake collective projects like photo stories and videos with Euphony.
POINT OF DIFFERENCE IN PERFORMANCE (WHAT UNIQUE STEPS WERE TAKEN IN YOUR SOCIETY THIS YEAR):
Every year, we strive to take up more creative projects and increase the involvement of all club members in various activities. Session 2019-2020 was no different. Here are a few key points of difference in performance of the club from its previous year activities:
• One of the highlights in the club’s history was this year’s weekend workshop under guidance of Mr. Pino Ninfa, a world-renowned photographer who came all the way from Italy and interacted with the young photography enthusiasts of our club during his visit to India.
• While we have been actively involved in the convocation every year as photographers covering the event and distributing the photos to the degree recipients, this year, Catharsis also worked on the Institute’s Convocation video.
• This year, Catharsis also took up the project of providing pictorial content for the institute’s annual report.
GUIDANCE FOR THE JUNIOR YEARS:
Do you reach for your phone whenever you see a pretty sunset? Or do you prefer to be behind the camera when out with a group of friends? If yes, come explore the beautiful art of photography. Catharsis IIESTS, the photography society of our college, welcomes you to embark on a journey of visual arts. Be it urban street or getting lost in the nature with nothing but a camera, we implore you to come join us. We, a bunch of shutternodes, welcome you Catharsis. We are the only club which is involved in others' club indirectly. Whether it's about Euphony or Les-Thespian. We are the people who captures their memories.
SOCIAL MEDIA: