Mumbai: U.S. Consulate General Mumbai honored 13 winners of the photography exhibit entitled “Women Make It Happen,” on Tuesday, March 31 at 5:00 p.m. at the NCPA Piramal Art Gallery. This exhibit capped the Consulate’s fifth annual photo contest on women’s empowerment. The exhibit runs through April 5.
The photo contest commemorated International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, which is celebrated in the United States every March. The contest was open to Indian nationals residing in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Goa. Over 400 photo entries were submitted, which was double the number of entries received last year, and the submissions came from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. Celebrated Indian photographers Rahul Gajjar and Mukesh Parpiani and last year’s contest winner Prabha Patel served on the panel of judges.
The theme of the photography contest, “Women Make It Happen,”underscores the positive contributions women make to society. It celebrates individual acts of courage and determination by women who have played an extraordinary role in their families and communities. U.S. Consulate General Public Affairs Officer Philip Roskamp presented the awards to the winners. “We are extremely pleased that so many people are using their voices—and their cameras—to highlight the role of inspirational women,” he said during the inauguration ceremony. Roskamp added that the enthusiastic participation of photographers throughout western India boosted the U.S. Consulate’s efforts to engage audiences on the issue of women’s empowerment.
Categories for the winning entries include: Best Overall, Best Composition, Best Story, Most Thematic, and Best TwitPic. The winners in the various categories are: Best Overall – Top Winner Narayan Patel (Vadodara) , Best Overall – Runners Up Hardik Bhavsar (Mehsana, Gujarat), Best Overall – Runners Up Vimal Mylon (Mumbai); Best Story – Top Winner Swapnali Mathkar (Mumbai), Best Story – Runners Up Hemant Padalkar (Mumbai), Best Story – Runners Up Swapnil Sakhare (Mumbai); Most Thematic – Top Winner Dinesh P. Shukla (Ahmedabad, Gujarat), Most Thematic – Runners Up Elvin John Roberts (Vadodara, Gujarat), Most Thematic – Runners Up Ujjval Jobanputra (Ahmedabad, Gujarat); Best Composition – Top Winner Dimple Pancholi (Vadodara, Gujarat), Best Composition – Runners Up Abhinav Kocharekar (Mumbai), Best Composition – Runners Up Harshad Dhapa – (Bhavnagar, Gujarat); and Best TwitPic Shalini Sharma (Mumbai).
The photographs can be viewed at: www.flickr.com/photos/usconsulatemumbai/sets/72157649354992364/
