TOTO AWARDS 2010
PHOTOGRAPHY

CALL FOR ENTRIES

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA), in association with TASVEER, invites entries for its third annual TOTO awards for young Indian photographers. Two cash awards of Rs. 25,000 each will be given in January 2010.

The spirit of the Toto Awards is to identify promise and encourage young talent. THEREFORE, entries are only invited from young people — over the age of 18, who will not have celebrated their 30th birthday before 1 January 2010.

The submissions should comprise a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 36 images, either in colour or black and white, or a mix of the two.

1. The submission should comprise still images. Video photography will not be accepted.
2. They should be high resolution (print quality): 350-600 dpi.
3. The submission should be made on CD (three copies) along with hard copies of five photographs of your choice. These should be in reasonable size, i.e., easily visible, but not larger than A-4.
4. The photographs could be on one theme or an assortment of themes. Your choice.
5. Submitted material will not be returned.

Entries should reach TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) by 24 October 2009 at the latest.

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA)
H 301 Adarsh Gardens, 8th Block, 47th Cross, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560 082
Phone: 080-26990549
If you have any further queries, please write to totofundsthearts@yahoo.com

THE FINE PRINT:

Entries must be accompanied by a signed statement confirming the applicant’s date of birth, whether the applicant’s work has been published in print (give details), and also affirming that the submitted work is original. Please ensure that the submitted CDs and prints do not carry your name on them. Submitted entries will be given code numbers to protect applicants’ identities from the jury during the judging process.

Submitted material will not be returned.

The decision of the TFA jury is final and cannot be contested in any forum.

Please note: We reserve the right to use your photographs (if necessary) to publicise the awards and in any in-house materials such as a newsletter. Otherwise, the copyright rests with the photographer and your submission will be put to no other use without your express permission.

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films. Tasveer is an organisation committed to showcasing the finest in photography.

Design Process
After deciding the concept upon which the design was to be based, the traditional symbol for INR was broken up into the basic geometrical elements, rearranged and simplified so that it was a new, modern and progressive design but conserved all what the traditional symbol stood for. The idea was to keep
the design completely unrelated at first look but still incorporate design elements that immediately reminded of the original symbol upon further scrutiny.

Design Symbolism
The top left sideways open circle symbolizes many things central to Indian culture, history and heritage. India is known to the world as the ancient powerhouse of learning. Zero and the decimal system is considered to be one of the biggest scientific contribution of India to the world and the circle on the top symbolizes that. The fact that this circle is open symbolizes that Indian culture has always been a culture open and receptive to other cultures. The direction of opening to the left side imparts an overall impetus to the design in forward direction, thus pointing towards the progressive nature of Indian economy.
Parallel lines represent continuity and stability. The bottom two lines symbolize stability and the strong foundation that the Indian economy stands on.

Mathematical Design
The basic design has three degrees of freedom.
1. The radius of circular top.
2. The angle of opening.
3. Ratio of radius to thickness.
The thickness is same as the distance between the two lines and is also equal to the distance between the upper line and the lower most point of the circular top. Aspect ratio of height to width was fixed to be the golden ratio to harmonize the design with nature thus making the design aesthetically appealing.
One degree had to be kept free for scaling of design and this degree was inner radius of the circle.
After this, for the fixed aspect ratio, ratio of radius to thickness and angle of opening were connected with a constraint and fixing the angle at 109º fixed the radius to thickness ratio to 6.7
Hence the design is mathematically complete.

1. Computer Configuration: The most obvious thign you can do to improve Lightroom performance is to get a better configuration computer with high amounts of RAM, 4 Gb DDR3 would be ideal. But you can’t always do that, so another thing you can do is to install 64 bit version of Windows and Lightroom will automatically install 64 bit version. This will do two things- first, it will improve the speed and responsiveness of the computer in general, and secondly, it will allow Lightroom to access more that 3.2 Gb of RAM, upto practically infinite amounts. Give it a try and see the difference for yourself.
2. Preview Rendering: The most common reason of slow performance of Lightroom is preview rendering when you are working with files. You can avoid this annoying delay by rendering all previews after you import images into a Lightroom catalog. Simply click Library>Previews>Render 1:1 and render previews for all files after you import them. Keep in mind though that this will take up extra disk space.

3. Optimizing Cache: The third thing you can do to radically improve Lightroom speed is to do right settings for Lightroom cache. If you don’t know what cache is, it is the hard disk space Lightroom uses for storing temporary working data, you can consider it to be an extension of RAM for Lightroom. You should ideally have Lightroom cache in a 75% free internal hard drive which is not the drive on which OS is installed. If this is not possible, you can have the cache on the same drive as OS but make sure it is internal. You can do it by going to Edit>Preferences>File Handling

My English teacher used to say “Even when you know you are wrong but if your opponent can’t prove that, then you are just right!” In simple words you can’t lose if you argue correctly.

Many times in photography I find myself in similar situations. I don’t care what lenses should do, I don’t care the brightness, the haze, the overexposure, blur, focus, depth of field and this and that. I am not a science man. But if I look at a photograph and it strikes me then I can go at any length convincing people that this is, in fact, a good snap. I am a layman, I don’t want to know the technical stuff and I don’t need to. Psychologically what impression does a snap makes in my mind is much more important to me than anything else. This is also important for the photographers to know because which one’s a good pic is ultimately in the hands of the people in general and not on the ‘photo community’ people.

I believe a good photographer knows what would make a special picture and what makes a picture special. I am just concerned with the latter because most of the times, I find, when you are intently taking a shoot, you are so emotionally attached to the subject at hand, that, you are unable to give an unbiased judgment. I know that because the same happens to me with regard to poetry. When I write a poem, at that time, I just can’t accept it as one of my worst creations ever. It just appears to be right in all respects, no matter what. But wait a minute…Isn’t it because I am currently living in that feeling and very obsessed with it? Of course! This is one of the reasons, I suggest my friends to look at their photographs again after a fortnight and those which still make an impression, give them a shot.

But then in the world are people like me who want this tool to be fun while giving hard time to the professionals. After all not everyone should be a science man and also because we believe photography is simple and for everyone.

So what I do is to take random picture, from any camera or blog, and just start bullying people claiming that this is incredible piece of work and I haven’t seen anything like this before! This sounds crazy but it makes the learning process a lot simpler for me because people start telling you everything that is right and wrong and sometimes they end up teaching photography, which is supposed to be a dear profession, for free! And then they tell me am crazy! How fair is that?

So if you don’t intend to be the science man, just be the fun guy. But whatever, in the end just make sure, that you argue correctly.

Literally speaking, a photograph is nothing but a representation of person, place, scene or thing in a convenient form-print, digital or slide-with the help of a device called camera. But beneath those dead frames of exaggerated reality lies a whole breathing world. Ever fresh and alive! What we know in our very familiar words as, memories. Our memories, their memories and the memories of the world itself! For most of the people photographs are a way to peek into their own past and watch them selves in times-happy, sad or fun. But more often than not photographs become impersonal objects depicting everything from a leaf falling off the tree to the smile of the beloved ones, who we don’t even know but can somehow connect very well through this medium. When we go on a trip, we keep capturing the roads, trees, skies, flowers, mountains, houses and people because somewhere on the back of our minds we know that this world and this time is not going to last in our lives for long and we all are subconsciously attached to it and want to keep a piece of it safe in our heart, in our memories-the face of the world, as it was, beautiful, pure and pacific.

For me photographs are like adventure trips where you can not only discover the object under focus but you can also enjoy the thrills of the vicinity. For me they are the stills showing the change in the world. For me they are like personal feelings in shared spaces. For me they are like little secrets kept in a stash. And sometimes, on rare occasions, they are a mystery with an aura of their own. It is something originated beyond the camera, photographer, films and lights. It is an idea consciously provoked, unconsciously originated or subconsciously present in the mind of the photographer. And it is the beauty of this very thought that keeps me lingering to them.

Photography has brought a revolution in the world and with time it has, silently, got so ingrained in every ones life that we seldom think and talk about it. But that photograph with a little emotion and thought behind it is certainly the most amazing thing you have had in your hands. It is like diving into the past and coming out alive in a moment, kept, so perfectly safe and intact to its very essence, for ever.

Now before continuing the post, I must rather define what does class mean. The class means a group of people who view a piece of art more intently and have an exposure to a wide variations.

A common man is so busy in his daily chores that they are unable to go beyond the beats of a song (Tandoori Nights) or the precision of a painting (take any well painted landscape). Appreciating art requires patient observation and not many have the time to do that. Moreover people out of their biases (Classical musical is not youthful and is boring), or else lack of availability (people don’t have exposure to western music), have a very limited range of art variations, and thus understanding of art. That’s the reason modern art paintings are mocked at in public domains.

But then there is an obvious truth. It is the accolades of the public that labels some works classic. It is the public not the critics that makes stars and legends. The Beatles are a classic example. It is the public that changes the perception of how art is seen, and at times it forces the classes to give an art a relook. Harry Potter was turned down by the biggest publishing houses, and today it is nothing less than a modern classic, a literary masterpiece. Moreover poor works cannot stand the test of time. Popularity is like a bubble, it bursts in no time, and if an artist lacks depth, his shot to fame soon becomes a subject of public mockery.

To sum up, if you want to be an artist, it is surely important that the work gets appreciation of the classes. But without the public appreciation, no piece of work of art can be great. And even if the classes don’t get you, but you still stand the test of time of public adoration, don’t bother, you are already a legend…

Creativity is a wonder. It has an enigmatic charm. It’s is one with a million faces. You seem to understand it, but then it shows a yet another dimension. It can bring people from rags to riches, and turn the sane, insane.

Being creative is so easy, yet very difficult.Thousands struggle to make a mark in this world with their creative flair, but there are very few who make the heads turn. And there are few, who give masterpieces, one after the other, in a short span of their careers. So what is it that makes someone creative, and what is it that many people miss out?

Most of the world tries to be creative, while the creative folks effortlessly flow in it. Let’s try to explain the difference this way. When you breathe, do you order your lungs to do so. No you don’t. It is a reflex action.

Similarly being creative requires no effort. It is essentially effortless, mindless. Like flowing in the river. That’s the reason the best pics are snapped when accidentally. The best music is not made in a jam session, but in the noisy busy street.

These accidents are never actually accidents. This is effortlessness. Flowing in creativity. Once somebody gets a hang of it… he can do it each time. As then seizing the perfect moment, is as effortless as breathing. You don’t need to put your mind into it, or plan for it.

Now the question arises, how can one be effortless? And the answer is simple….

“LIVE BOLD, LIVE FREE, LIVE THE MOMENT”