People: Portrait (PROFESSIONAL) - HONORABLE MENTION
The little boy from Hampi.

Photo © Arjun Kamath
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I made this portrait of 12-year-old Ajitha while he was busy guarding a tribe of goat on the outskirts of Hampi.
I smiled politely and asked him, "Do you go to school?" (In Kannada, the local language)
He smiled back warmly and said, "No..."
That "NO" still hasn't left my mind. Was it a happy no, or a sad no, we'll never know.
Born in Bangalore (India), Arjun Kamath is a director, cinematographer, photographer and graduate of the University of Southern California’s prestigious School of Cinematic Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in film and television production. A three-time recipient of the Canon Creative Asia Photography Bronze Award, Kamath wrapped production in 2015 as cinematographer on his first feature-length documentary in Scotland, Scotch: A Golden Dream (featuring the Duke of Argyll, Jim McEwan, and Richard Paterson). He also served as a principal cinematographer on the feature film What Would Beethoven Do?, which premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival, where it received an audience award, and has played at numerous festivals around the world. Originally an information technology engineer, Kamath also created the 2015 photo-narrative Coming Out, which explored the persecution faced by homosexuals in India. The series took the Internet by storm, was publicized in newspapers around the world and even caught the attention of the United Nations. The UN published the article ‘Meet Arjun Kamath: From Engineering Student to Internet Stardom’ to salute the project’s roaring success. Kamath subsequently completed two other photo-narratives: Avani, which addresses female infanticide, and Color of Our Skin, which deals with discrimination based on skin colour. Both went viral on the Internet and received extensive national news coverage because of the social activism they generated. Kamath’s work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Daily Mail (UK), Metro (UK), the Guardian (UK), the Independent (UK), National Geographic, BuzzFeed and a host of major national newspapers in India, including the Hindu, Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, DNA and Times of India. With a strong fan base of 1,00,000 Facebook followers, Kamath is currently working on his next photo-narrative, titled Prakruti.
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I made this portrait of 12-year-old Ajitha while he was busy guarding a tribe of goat on the outskirts of Hampi.
I smiled politely and asked him, "Do you go to school?" (In Kannada, the local language)
He smiled back warmly and said, "No..."
That "NO" still hasn't left my mind. Was it a happy no, or a sad no, we'll never know.
About author:
Born in Bangalore (India), Arjun Kamath is a director, cinematographer, photographer and graduate of the University of Southern California’s prestigious School of Cinematic Arts, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in film and television production. A three-time recipient of the Canon Creative Asia Photography Bronze Award, Kamath wrapped production in 2015 as cinematographer on his first feature-length documentary in Scotland, Scotch: A Golden Dream (featuring the Duke of Argyll, Jim McEwan, and Richard Paterson). He also served as a principal cinematographer on the feature film What Would Beethoven Do?, which premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival, where it received an audience award, and has played at numerous festivals around the world. Originally an information technology engineer, Kamath also created the 2015 photo-narrative Coming Out, which explored the persecution faced by homosexuals in India. The series took the Internet by storm, was publicized in newspapers around the world and even caught the attention of the United Nations. The UN published the article ‘Meet Arjun Kamath: From Engineering Student to Internet Stardom’ to salute the project’s roaring success. Kamath subsequently completed two other photo-narratives: Avani, which addresses female infanticide, and Color of Our Skin, which deals with discrimination based on skin colour. Both went viral on the Internet and received extensive national news coverage because of the social activism they generated. Kamath’s work has been featured in the Huffington Post, Daily Mail (UK), Metro (UK), the Guardian (UK), the Independent (UK), National Geographic, BuzzFeed and a host of major national newspapers in India, including the Hindu, Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, DNA and Times of India. With a strong fan base of 1,00,000 Facebook followers, Kamath is currently working on his next photo-narrative, titled Prakruti.
BACK TO GALLERY