The photo by Dr.Dilip Shah from Mumbai on the theme Naturescapes, titled 'Flamingo in Fairy Land' and the photo by Mahesh from Kayamkulam, Kerala on the theme Wild Portraits titled 'Wait' won the first prize at the prestigious DJ Memorial Photography Contest this year.

DJ Memorial Photography Contest (DJMPC) is a premier, international competitive photography contest organized by Lakshmi Machine Works, and held annually in the memory of its past Chairman and Managing Director Dr.D.Jayavarthanavelu, who harbored deep passion for photography.

The contest is held since 2012 as a heartfelt tribute to Dr.D.Jayavarthanavelu’s exceptional talent in photography and celebrate his legacy by recognizing outstanding photographers internationally.

Since its inception, DJMPC is held as a free-to-enter international photography contest, and it is seen as a valuable platform for talented photographers from across the world to convey the remarkable stories they witnessed through their pictures. The cash rewards Rs.10 lakhs given at the event are also one of the highest for such contests.

The competition received 6464 images (3032 Naturescapes and 3432 Wild Portraits) from 1538 participants from 25 countries. They were evaluated by the Jury panel comprising of elite photographers, Rajesh Bedi, New Delhi; Jainy Maria and Jayaprakash Bojan, Singapore.

The winners, runners-up and Certificate of Merit recipients of the DJ Memorial Photography Contest were felicitated on Tuesday at an award ceremony held in Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery by Chairman and Managing Director of Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW), Coimbatore, Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu in the presence of K.Maruthachalam, the mentor for the contest, Vikram Sathyanathan, Administrator & Curator of the contest besides other special guests.

The winning photo in Naturescapes titled, 'Flamingo in Fairy Land' by Dr.Dilip Shah is an an aerial view of a group of Flamingos flying over Lake Magadi in Kenya.

The lake’s bed consists almost entirely of solid or semisolid soda. The soda residues on the surfaces give a very beautiful artistic formation with pink and blue tones, that can be much appreciated if viewed from the top. The photographer took a helicopter and clicked a photo of the Lake right when a group of Flamingos flew over it.

The Photo titled On its Throne shot by Chennai-based photographer Ganapathi Ram was declared the Runner Up in this category.

The winning photo in Wild Portraits titled 'Wait' by Mahesh is a low angle shot of a group of birds waiting to catch fish in a lake in Kerala.

The photo captures more than a dozen birds carefully and patiently observing the movements of their prey inside the water. It was showcased in black and white.

The photo titled Parenting Goals by Canada-based photographer Thomas Vijayan was declared the Runner-Up in this category.


All the finest photos of this year's competition have been exhibited at Kasthuri Srinivasan Cultural Centre.

They will be on display at the Centre for public's viewing pleasure from July 30th to August 4th from 10.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Photos by Manoj Kumar