Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 26: Seven students from diverse disciplines and destinations recently came together under one umbrella to advocate the cause of animals and create awareness on ethical treatment of those by human beings. In effect, the students, in an age where the human rights are often trampled by fellow human beings, are trying to make us aware that we protect the ‘rights’ of animals and promote human-animal harmony. These students, most of whom are amateur photographers, worked through the later months of 2014 to bring out a calendar featuring different emotions of animals and their ‘rights’.
Buoyed by the response popular wildlife calendars such as the one brought out by the PETA often garners, these youths pinned their hopes on the diverse natural heritage of Orissa to shoot the photographs used in their calendar dedicated to animal rights. “A group of seven students, all passionate about photography came together to create a document that common people can utilise and which can often remind them of animals in their vicinity and their rights. We took the help of 13 models to shoot for our calendar. People for Animals (PFA), Bhubaneswar and Kennel Club of this city also helped us in our effort,” said a student of Architecture and one of the seven photographers, who contributed to the calendar but refused to be identified.
The seven students who took part in the calendar-making project worked under the umbrella of Pixels, a charitable trust, which works for the promotion of art and culture of Orissa. Subhendu Biswal, co-founder Pixels, said, “We often try to make calendars to create awareness among people. Last year we made a calendar on the diverse culture of the state. This year we focused on animal rights. Calendars are a very important means of communication. These help to constantly remind people the message we often try to convey.”
Various clubs and organisations too extended their helping hands to these students-activists to make this project a success. Kennel Club of the city also helped the team. Subhrat Prusty, secretary, Kennel Club said, “We saw some young people working for a noble cause. We wanted to help them so that they can successfully create awareness on animal rights among the public. We tried to help the students and their team in bringing out the calendar. Animals are a very important part of the society and for many they are of paramount importance.”
The calendar, which featured many models from Orissa and other parts of the country, was mostly shot in Bhubaneswar and its periphery. Some scenes however, were shot at Chandrabhaga and at some botanical gardens across the state. Noted Oriya actresses Prakriti Mishra and Anubha Shourya also took part in the making of the calendar.
The trend of calendar making is no longer an alien concept for the city. Many photographers and models from the city are now trying their hands in this creative art form. These calendars, besides projecting tourist destinations of the state and making a sort of profile for aspiring models, also help in spreading social messages.
