India and COVID-19 in images
The Hindu
Tamma Srinivasa Reddy, the only Indian photographer to be conferred the Fellow of The Royal Photographic Society this year, discusses how he documented the pandemic through photo stories
Tamma Srinivasa Reddy, 55, is the only Indian photographer to be recognised as Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, Britain, this year. The announcement was made on November 4 in recognition of his photographs documenting India’s battle with COVID-19. The Vijayawada-based photographer who is on a visit to Hyderabad, is overjoyed with the honour: “To me, this means more than a Pulitzer Prize. I am happy to get this recognition as a photojournalist. Unlike international photographers who specialise in one genre of photography for decades, photojournalists in India juggle multiple assignments in a day — crime to politics, festivities to lifestyle.”
Reddy is the 18th Indian and third Telugu-speaking photographer, after the late Rajan Babu and Kusuma Prabhakar, to be recognised by the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), UK. Established in London in 1853, the RPS receives applications from photographers around the globe. “Several photographers might have submitted images pertaining to the pandemic. I tried to present an overview of how India, as a developing nation, is coping with the situation,” says Reddy.