About

This website exists so musicians and dancers can have easy access to their photographs. This thought only recently came to me as I realized that the musicians and dancers I photograph do not have easy access to the pictures taken of them. From Pandit Ravi Shankar to every other artist I have photographed; each of them have this unfulfilled need. I discussed the concept with a few artists and the need became clear. The idea was further refined. Kiranavali Vidyashankar came up with the idea for the name. Now comes carnaticography.com

In three easy steps you will be able to download your pictures.

  1. Register on the site and get your account approved.
  2. Log in and find the pictures you like.
  3. Down load them.

Go ahead Click Here and get started now.

I have been taking photographs at concerts and dance programs for some years. My first foray into this was as a teenager. I had owned a simple camera since I was ten. It took 120mm film which gave me 12 shots a roll. I was given the opportunity to take photographs during Rukmini Devi’s Ramayana dance series at Kalakshetra. A.N. Jagannatha Rao, a close family friend and mentor, encouraged me to work along side him at the old Kalakshetra Theater. It was all black and white film and I did not have a telephoto lens. But it was exciting and an unforgettable opportunity of a lifetime. Jaggu Anna launched my lifetime interest in concert photography.

I have since taken pictures for Chennaionline, Kalki Magazine and now for Sruti Magazine. The second opportunity of a lifetime happened when I interviewed Pandit Ravi Shankar in 2011. Thanks again to friends, this time Revathi Subramanian and Shekar Viswanathan of IFAASD, I was allowed to take photographs during the concert from a choice center seat. Every opportunity in life has come about due to the kindness of friends and of strangers. And many many thanks to V. Ramnarayan of Sruti magazine for his encouragement and for giving me the opportunity to write for Sruti as well.

After the Ravi Shankar interview was published in Sruti, I received a call from Shekar Viswanathan. He said Pandit Ravi Shankar and Sukanya liked the pictures very much and thought they were very good and they would like to have copies. Would it be possible for them to get copies? What an honor! I had the pictures printed into a little photo book and sent several copies; one of which got autographed and returned to me.
I then realized that although artists are often photographed. They do not always get copies of the pictures. This site is my attempt to remedy that. Initially, I will be making only my photographs available. If the response is good, I expect to soon make the site available to other photographers so they may also upload their images and make then available to the artists.

You will note that the pictures have a watermark in several places. However, your authorized downloads will only have a water mark in one innocuous place so you will remember where you got it. You can use the images without the watermark. Please do accept and abide by the terms of use and respect my work as I respect all of yours. There is no cost to you to download and use the pictures. All I ask is for a visible credit line when the pictures are used.

When you first register on the site, I may contact you to verify your email and make sure that some else is not trying to download pictures by posing to be you. Once you have your password and account set up, you will be able to download images on demand, easily.

Surely, you will all have good ideas for improving the site. Please send your comments and your suggestions and I will do my best to incorporate them as this site evolves and improves. I will, as always, also reply personally to every email I receive.

Sincerely

Shankar Ramachandran