N. Ram, director of The Hindu Group, and Anuradha and Iqbal Mohamed, co-founders of the Academy of Light and Life, at an event organized on Saturday to celebrate its 25th anniversary. | Photo credit: M. SATHYAMOORTHY
All students of photography should keep in mind the power of photojournalism to effect change in the world, said N. Ram, director, The Hindu Group, at the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Academy of Light and Life at Udhagamandalam in The Nilgiris on Saturday (March 21, 2026).
Mr. Ram, who spoke as the chief guest at the event, urged students to remember the key role of television journalists in bringing about the global response to the Ethiopian famine of 1983 to 1985, saying it was especially appropriate to remember in light of the “extensive suffering we witnessed during this barbaric, violent attack by the United States of America and Israel.”
Mr. Ram said the coverage of the 1984 famine led to a huge global response. “Before then, a small number of aid agencies and sensitive reporters were aware of the deepening crisis in Ethiopia. But at that stage, the impact of the specialized information network and media coverage was not apparent.”
He added that students of photography should be aware of such events when analyzing photography’s impact on widespread suffering “as we saw earlier in Gaza, after Israel’s genocidal attacks on the people of Palestine,” he said, adding that the same attacks had happened in Iran and elsewhere, calling war a “mad enterprise.”
Mr. Ram also highlighted the work of photojournalists like Sunil Janah who documented the Bengal famine of 1943, as well as countless other photojournalists and documentarians whose work had a huge impact on society.
The celebration featured a panel discussion, “Is Something Going? Ethics and Evolution of Imaging Held” by R. Balki, filmmaker, Atul Kasbekar, photographer and producer, Priti David, executive editor of People’s Archive of Rural India, and A. Sudharshan, co-founder of Ting.
Mr. Balki highlighted the potential dangers to society posed by artificial intelligence (AI), which may lead to mass unemployment due to layoffs. “On the one hand, we have artificial intelligence, which is used in science to extend the life span of human beings, and on the other hand, we are faced with the question of when people are unemployed.”
Also present at the event were Anuradha and Iqbal Mohamed, co-founders of the Academy of Light and Life, District Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru, Superintendent of Police, The Nilgiris, NS Nisha and Shashi Sinha, Strategic Advisor, Omnicom Media, who delivered the keynote address.
Published – 21 March 2026 19:55 IST
