When Theni-based Chandini Ramesh started her photography venture six years ago, there were not many women from the small town wielding the camera. She runs a baby photography venture called The Little Bud Photography. In 2022, she came across the Kanavu Fellowship offered by the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation (CPBF), a non-profit organisation that promotes the art form of photography.

The fellowship offers women training and mentorship to turn skilled visual story-tellers. “I was part of the first batch of the fellowship in 2022,” she recalls. Today, Chandini, along with S Bhuvaneswari, another Kanavu Fellowship alumni, is set to facilitate a portrait and studio photography workshop for women in Sholavandan near Madurai.

Chandini travelled to Chennai for the fellowship, receiving training over one year. “I not only got to hone my skill and learn in a judgement-free environment, I became more confident as a person,” she recalls. Bhuvaneswari is from Salem and specialises in birth photography. “I’m happy to have the opportunity to share what I learned through the fellowship,” she says.

At the two-day hands-on workshop, women will be introduced to the fundamentals of portrait photography. There will be sessions on camera basics, composition, working with people, natural and studio lighting, posing and directing subjects, and guided shooting exercises, all of which have been designed for beginners as well as those with basic experience.

According to Gayatri Nair, co-founder and trustee at Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation, the workshop is their way of making Kanavu Fellowships more accessible to Tamil Nadu women who live outside Chennai. “It used to be a very intensive, year-long programme for which participants had to come to Chennai,” she says.

While two days may not be sufficient to pick up photography techniques in their entirety, Gayatri hopes to hold a follow-up session in September in the same venue. “This is also to gauge their interest. Once we show them the basics, they can learn by exploring a little bit on their own,” she says, adding that participants can also form a local group for themselves to learn from each other.

A lot of learning happens on the job and with photography being very on-field and practical, she says that not every participant may come out of the workshop as a professional. “This is more to light the spark to say you can do this and there are women around you who are doing it too,” says Gayatri.

On August 29 and 30 at Sholavandhan. Open to women aged 18 and above. The workshop is free of cost. Participation through an application and selection process. To apply, write to kanavufellowship@chennaiphotobiennale.com, visit them on Instagram @kanavufellowship

Published - August 14, 2026 05:12 pm IST