A camera, they say, is a save button for the mind's eye.
Manas Mukherjee, for one, would agree. The 68-year-old Bokaro businessman's one surreal shot of the Lahaul-Spiti valley during a pleasure trip to Ladakh in 2006 bagged the top prize in the Nature category of an exhibition-cum-contest organised at Dhanbad Club by the district photographers' association on Wednesday.
Son Mukul, who accepted the memento and certificate on his father's behalf, said Mukherjee never believed that a good camera was prerequisite for the best click. "He took this splendid picture with a Nikon Coolpix camera like most tourists would. He has always been so passionate about photography; it is like his first love," Mukul said.
The nature-lover to rank second was BCCL officer A.K. Sengupta (58) while the third prize went to news phographer Bidyut Verma (42).
Altogether, 155 entries vied for Wednesday's laurels, 75 of them in the Nature category, 55 in Journalism section and 25 in Wedding category.
On the panel of judges were Dhanbad-based international photographer S.K. Moitra, retired DGMS director Mukesh Srivastava and former news editor of Hindustan Intrajeet Singh.
Meghna Bansal, better half of Dhanbad SP Rakesh Bansal, inaugurated the show, which stepped into its third year.
The Wedding category honours went to Jayanto Ghoshal (32). The runners-up were Times of India lensman Chandan Paul (36) and Jharia-based studio owner Mahendra Nishad (30) in that order.
"Making a wedding album is a tough call, I feel, because the moments are short-lived. There is no retake on those auspicious ceremonies. I am glad judges lauded my efforts," said Ghoshal whose award-winning shot captured the mala-badal (garlanding) ritual of a Bengali wedding at a city hotel last year.
In the Journalism category, The Telegraph's Gautam Dey was adjudged the best for his image of a coal mine spewing fire. The second and third prizes went to Dainik Bhaskar's Bidyut Verma and Hindustan's Gopalji, respectively.
"What we see through our eyes, lensmen and lenswomen see through their mind. They don't take photographs; they make everlasting images. An exciting news report turns boring without a telling picture," Bansal said in her address to the winners and visitors.
President of Dhanbad district photographers' association Om Agarwal said they had 160 members. "We have been hosting workshops periodically to hone our skills. The contest has been a hit since 2013."
