Digex, the Photography and Film-making Club of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram organised the Digex Photography Festival on 12 May 2018, to exhibit their passion for photography through a multitude of events. Sponsored by Sony Corporation, India, powered by Athena Education and co-powered by Fujifilm India, the event saw active participation of 65 schools from across Delhi-NCR.
The Guest of Honour, Mr Rahul Subramaniam, Managing Director, Athena Education; the Principal, Ms Vanita Sehgal; and the Teacher in-charge for Digex, Ms Sarika Kaushal graced the event with their presence.
The event commenced with the lighting of the lamp, followed by a short film showcasing the talent of the members of Digex.
The Principal addressed everyone present at the event and talked about the importance of photography in the contemporary era. She talked about one of her all-time favourite photographs – Stan Wayman’s photograph of Jacqueline Kennedy at her husband’s funeral. The snapshot has been described as “one of the most poignant pictures of all time” due to the raw and natural emotion Wayman was able to capture. She concluded her speech by commemorating Digex for its unparalleled excellence.
The Expressions Theatre Club then enacted a mime about how a photograph is more than just a picture, it is a memory.
In his speech, the Guest of Honour expressed that “A camera may have a lens, but it does not have vision. It may have memory, but it does not have perspective. It is but an instrument in the hands of the artist.” He elaborated by saying unadulterated emotions are what make a photo enduring – they depict struggle, sorrow, joy and ecstasy, and stir our souls into action. He emphasized that a photograph is a piece of history, a form of activism, a process of explorations and discovery, and a pursuit of truth and beauty.
The President of the club, Ishika Gupta, then enunciated her gratitude for the photography club. She said “Photography for me is not just looking, it’s feeling.” She then went on to wish all the participants luck.
The program consisted of eight events: seven on-site – Phototalk for Students, Phototalk for Teachers, Pixelate – Junior, Pixelate – Senior, Camistic (Story Board), CreADive (Ad Making) and Surprise Event; and one off-site – Hi-Res (Movie Making).
Phototalk for Students was headed by Mr Sameer Ashraf. He elaborated upon what all was required to excel at photography. He explained how a simple 37 second advertisement for his campaign with Royal Enfield was able to increase their sales tremendously, thus accentuating the astounding difference good photography can create. His valuable inputs on passion, visualization and marketing skills provided the students with valuable insight about future careers in the field.
Phototalk for Teachers described the general aspects of photography, how to handle a camera, importance of the history of a photograph and gave hands on experience on lighting and best ways of taking a photograph.
The Surprise Event was a treasure hunt in which each participating team was given eight clues. Each clue led the teams to locations inside the school premises where they had to click a photograph. The criteria for judgement were creativity, technical skill, aesthetic appeal and the overall impact of the image.
Camistic (Story Board) required the participants to create a story out of three pictures. The theme of the story was “Me, Myself and I” and the photographs were supposed to follow the prompts: “Where I come from”, “Where I am” and “Where I aspire to be”. Only minimal editing was allowed and the photographs were judged on the basis of creativity, technical skill, aesthetic appeal and the overall impact of the image.
CreADive (Ad Making) was a competition regarding advertisement-making, where all participants were given a product and told to advertise it. All students participated with great zeal and spread out all across the school to make their advertisements. Creativity, technical skill, originality, relevance to the topic, technical competency, acting and expression of the students were all taken into account by the judges.
Pixelate – Junior was an on the spot photography competition. Mr Gabriel conducted a workshop briefing about the technological aspects of photography. The participants were required to capture the given topic, Colours, as best as they could in a photograph. They were judged based on creativity, relevance to the topic, technical skill and aesthetic appeal.
Pixelate – Senior was a photography competition with topics given on the spot. The participants were given the topic, Pareidolia, and had to spread out in the school premises to capture the topic as innovatively as possible through their cameras.
Hi-Res (Movie Making) was the only offsite event. Participants were required to make a 3-minute-long shot on the topic Artificial Intelligence in the Future. The videos were evaluated on the basis of creativity, originality, relevance to the topic and technical competency.
Mr Sameer Ashraf, Mr Rohit Gautam, Mr Rahul Subramaniam and Ms Ananya Vinayak were the judges for the events. Mr Ravi Rawat, Mr Sandeep Sharma and Mr Neeraj Kumar contributed and helped coordinate the events. Two of the events were judged by Athena Education and three others by Sony Corporation.
The Valedictory Ceremony commenced with a screening of the winning film of Hi-Res, the Movie Making Competition.
The Principal felicitated the representatives of the event’s sponsors: Sony Corporation, Athena Education and Fujifilm India.
Ms Sarika Kaushal, the event coordinator and Club in-charge, delivered the vote of thanks.
The prizes were distributed by Ms Vanita Sehgal, Mr Rahul Subramaniam and Ms Sarika Kaushal.
The ceremony concluded with the National Anthem.
The Overall Winner was DPS Vasant Kunj.
The results of the events are as follows:
| Events | Position | School Name |
| Hi-Res | 1st | Amity International School, Mayur Vihar |
| 2nd | DPS, Vasant Kunj | |
| 3rd | DPS, Noida | |
| Pixelate – Junior | 1st | Heritage Xperiential Learning School, Gurugram |
| 2nd | Amity International School, Mayur Vihar | |
| 3rd | DPS, Noida | |
| Pixelate – Senior | 1st | DPS, Dwarka |
| 2nd | Mount Carmel School, Anand Niketan | |
| 3rd | Mount Abu Public School, Rohini | |
| Camistic | 1st | Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar |
| 2nd | New Era Public School, Mayapuri | |
| 3rd | DPS, Indirapuram | |
| CreADive | 1st | Green Fields School, Safdarjung Enclave |
| 2nd | Venkateshwar International School, Dwarka | |
| 3rd | Cambridge, Srinivaspuri | |
| Surprise Event | 1st | DPS, Dwarka |
| 2nd | Springdales School, Dhaula Kuan | |
| 3rd | DPS, Vasant Kunj |
