Pics: Spoorthi Ullal

Daijiworld Media Network- Mangaluru (SK)

Mangaluru, May 11: Jitesh Prasad, a globally acclaimed photographer hailing from Moodbidri, commonly referred to as ‘Porlu’, has been chosen to receive the prestigious 'Gold of Golden Medal' award presented by the Asian Photographic Union and Golden Peacock Award Singapore in Singapore.

Addressing press persons here on Saturday, Tharanath Gatty Kapikad, president of Tulu Sahitya academy, proudly presented Jitesh Prasad as, “The district’s unique photographer who has been representing Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts on the international stage, bringing immense pride to our community. In the year 2023, he bagged Chitranjali award along with a cash prize of Rs 1 lac, organised by the Central Government Human Resource Department. And now, he has been chosen for the ‘Gold of Golden Medal Award’ in Singapore. He is someone who has widely travelled across countries, just as much as across different districts within Karnataka for capturing seasonal festivals and various folk sports through his photography.”

Jitesh Prasad presented his numerous medals of all sizes, bagged from photography competitions held at different countries throughout the year. He said, “To be selected for the ‘Gold of Golden award’, one must be qualified as an annual top ten photographers and exhibitor in the world, which is not easy. Yet, I have been achieving this position consecutively for the past three years.”

Highlighting the importance of participating in such competitions he added, “You might question the worth of such honour but it is not merely honorary, it enables you to test yourself. Otherwise, you run the risk of thinking you are the best photographer. The more you realise your smallness, the larger you are growing. Another benefit included is the invitations I would receive is to be the jury member of the international photography completions.”

“This is not my first time receiving honorary medals but as I am not very much inclined to self publication, I remained in the dark however, after receiving ‘golden of gold medal’ I was compelled to come to the light to inspire other aspiring photographers.”

“The photography competitions at Singapore are held 10 to 12 times annually. They are theme-based namely, ‘people’, ‘monochrome’ and ‘travel’; we can enter our photos in any of these three categories. By the process of averaging, a yearly winner is selected. This year, three individuals from India won this award, but within Karnataka, I was the sole recipient.”

Jitesh Prasad’s photographs have been exhibited in countries like Cyprus, Singapore, Russia, Ukraine, Bosnia, Greece, Malaysia, Romania, and many others. Within India, he was recognised as the top five best photographers for two consecutive years by Indian Photographic Federation (FIP).

He is a member of Bangalore youth photographic society and his dynamic profession allows him to involve with many photographic organizations of India and abroad. Over the past 30 years, he has amassed a distinctive collection of rare photographs that he himself captured.