Great Participation From School & College Students In Meraki
The beautiful “Meraki” photography competition and exhibition was organized by iLEAD and Sony. It took place from August 19–23, 2024. Students from both high schools and colleges participated in the World Photography Day celebration, which had the theme Beauty of Nature.
Renowned photographer and visual storyteller Ms. Lopamudra Talukdar was the chief guest at the grand award event. An astounding number of entries were received for the competition; 55 schools and 36 institutions contributed over a thousand photos. Out of these, 200 outstanding submissions were chosen for display at the iLEAD campus, turning the space into a lively gallery honoring the beauty of nature.
The Greek word “Meraki” captures the spirit of this occasion quite well. It entails investing a portion of your soul into your task. Participants found great resonance with this theme as they poured their passion and insight into every shot they took, capturing the beauty of nature through their lenses.
The 5-day exhibition also included masterclasses from Mr. Debarshi Duttagupta (extreme weather and nature photographer) and Mr. Sameer Ashraf (Alpha Specialist from Sony, HO, Delhi).
The event featured 12 special category awards recognizing outstanding talent, including Best Composition, Mentor’s Choice Photograph, Best Decisive Moment Capture Award, Best Landscape Award, Best Wildlife Photograph, Best Unique Perspective Award, Sony Best Photograph Award, Best Storytelling Photograph, Most Unique Photograph, Best Macro Photograph, Best Bird Photography and Best Lighting.
20 special mention awards were presented to school and college students for their remarkable contributions.
Schools that participated in the competition included Indus Valley World School, Ashok Hall Group, Mitra Institution, Don Bosco (Bandel), Serampore Vivekananda Academy, Sudhir Memorial Institute, The Assembly of God Church, BDMI, St. Xavier’s Institution, Modern High School for Girls, Adamas World School, Calcutta Public School, Rashmoni Balika Vidyalaya, Puddopukur Institution, Julien Day School (Howrah), Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar, South Point and more.
In the school category, the top three winners were:
- Satyam Gupta, Authpur National Model Higher Secondary School – 1st Position (Cash Prize: ₹7,000)
- Archisman Majumder, Don Bosco School, Bandel – 2nd Position (Cash Prize: ₹5,000)
- Ayush Das, Adamas World School – 3rd Position (Cash Prize: ₹3,000)
In the college category, the top three winners were:
- Sourik Samaddar, Serampore College – 1st Position (Cash Prize: ₹7,000)
- Arijeet Nath, iLEAD – 2nd Position (Cash Prize: ₹5,000)
- Soumili Pal, iLEAD – 3rd Position (Cash Prize: ₹3,000)
The school category photographs were judged by renowned wildlife photographer Dr. Anjan Sarkar and the college category photographs were judged by extreme weather and nature photographer Mr. Debarshi Duttagupta.
The occasion also highlighted the value of encouraging young minds via the development of creativity by honoring educators from a variety of schools for their mentoring and noteworthy extracurricular activity contributions.
“Meraki” left a lasting impression on all participants and guests by celebrating the art of photography as well as igniting young people’s passion for nature and creativity.
To know more, visit https://www.ilead.net.in/
Priyanka Dutta