Through the CPB lens: the Chennai Photo Biennale announces the fourth edition of its photo awards

CPB Photo Awards recognise excellence in photography, spotlight regional talent, and promote inclusivity.

The Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation believes that photography is not about making the perfect image; it is about telling meaningful stories that represent the times we live in. At the last edition of the CPB Photo Awards — an annual event held since 2019 to recognise excellence in photography and spotlight regional talent in smaller towns across the country — Supratim Bhattacharjee won the Danish Siddiqui Photo of the Year for an image from his Sinking Sundarbans project. It depicted two women sitting in the raging waters, looking helplessly over their shoulders.

It was selected from over 960 entries, by an independent jury that had names such as Pulitzer Prize winner Dar Yasin and photojournalist Saumya Khandelwal. “The awards are not limited to the skill of making the most incredible photographs, but also focus on thoughtfulness and relevance,” says Shuchi Kapoor, co-founder of CPB Foundation. Other winners included Anindito Mukherjee, who won the Photo Story of the Year for his series on communal violence and demolition drives in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh; Vinay Gupta for his series on Muslims offering namaz in the open in Gurugram; and S.L. Shanth Kumar for his photo of coastal erosion in Thiruvananthapuram.

The foundation is now inviting entries for the fourth edition of the CPB Photo Awards. Applications can be submitted starting November 5 all the way to January 5, 2024, across categories such as news and current affairs; climate, environment and conservation; nature and wildlife; daily life and culture; and portrait (prize money ₹50,000).

Additional awards include the Danish Siddiqui Award for Socially Concerned Photography; the Emami Art Award for Regional Photographer of the Year; and the Photo Story of the Year (prize money ₹1 lakh).

To promote inclusivity in entries, the awards are supplemented by the CPB Connect Program — to encourage participation from local communities in different parts of India through one-day sessions that offer presentations by practitioners, insight into submission formats and portfolio reviews. CPB Connect events will be held in Kolkata (November 18), Shillong (November 21), and Guwahati (November 24).

For more details, visit the website www.chennaiphotobiennale.foundation. Apply now.