Photographs on display at an exhibition titled Tashbir and visitors enjoy the works of photographers at Lalit Kala Akademi in Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 5: Photographs that give a distinct perspective of life and nature are on display at an exhibition — Tashbir — at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi in the city. The five-day exhibition that began on Wednesday showcases the creativity of shutterbugs from all over the country.

The themes of the photographs exhibited vary from environmental issues to sociological thoughts, spirituality and rational ideas.

The ensemble also includes some light moments and some pictures of stand-and-stare instances.

The photographers — a mix of professionals, art students and amateurs — have especially explored the cheerfulness of children.

Whether at slums or at well-heeled homes, the photographers have captured the liveliness of children with the same ardour.

In one of the photographs, a group of children are on the street with not a worry in the world as they busily play games and grin happily. This picture by Angshuman Paul, titled Playmates, brings an instant smile to the face.

Santosh Kumar Mallik’s The Smoky Lesson is another interesting photograph. A slum dweller can be seen holding a toddler who is carefully watching his guardian, while the man smokes carelessly.

Images capturing scenic spots such as Bhitarkanika and Puri beaches as well as festivals and celebrations of Orissa, the joy of sanyasis across the Ganga spending time together in groups, spectacular monuments from Uttar Pradesh, pictures from the Northeast and much more has been displayed at the exhibition.

Viewers seem to be deeply impressed with the photographs, though not with the display techniques.

“The photographs show some of the instances of daily activities of people which a common man ignores and a photographer captures and brings before the eyes of the people,” said Prabhat Senapati, a visitor.

Artist Meenaketan Patnaik said that the images were interesting but the display could have been better.

“Each photograph is a piece of art and deserves individual display but the organisers have clubbed four pictures on one huge sheet. Also, the print material of the photographs could have been better,” said Patnaik.

The exhibition showcased 80 works of around 40 shutterbugs based in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bengal, Maharashtra as well as New Jersey and London.

“We had asked for online applications and received around 250 entries. But we displayed the selected works here,” said Baban, one of the organisers.