HYDERABAD
For any football lover to be there at the FIFA World Cup is itself a dream come true. And, one can imagine the sense of pride when a photographer experiences the unbelievable atmosphere at the World Cup venues, freezes those unforgettable moments of ecstasy and agony and looks back, shares those memories.
And for Mohammad Shamsuddin, editor of Snaps India, founded by late M.A. Rahim in the city in 60s as a freelancing agency to provide news pics, it was no different feeling when Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali formally launched the one-day photo exhibition on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Doha (December 2022) at JHIC on Saturday.
The pictures ranged from capturing the emotions of the players out there in the field to the die-hard fans.
Some of those images which caught the imagination was the solitary frame of a Brazilian teenager in tears in the stands. Another pic which could be a connoisseur’s delight was the scissors kick by the incredible Cristiano Rolando of Portugal.
“It was a different kind of experience. You just don’t have time to relax like in some other sports. Action swings from one half to the other in seconds. You have to be on your toes,” said 54-year-old Shamsuddin, who also covered the 2012 London Olympics, Australian Open and many other major sporting events over the years.
“The biggest challenge of course is to be ready to catch the emotions of the players when they come close to you when you have to switch your camera gear at lightning speed,” said the lensman for whom it was his maiden FIFA World Cup. He also got the accreditation for the FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held jointly in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20 this year,” said the proud lensman.
“I am grateful to my Vijayawada-based photographer-friend T. Srinivas Reddy (Fellow, Royal Photographic Society, Great Britain) in making this happen,” Shamsuddin said. The exhibition featured about 160 pictures reliving the memories of what is arguably the biggest sporting event in the world.
The images of winning captain of Argentina Lionel Messie getting a feel of the World Cup after winning laying his hands on the glittering trophy and the losing finalist’s star player Kylian Mbappé Lottin walking past it, perhaps wondering where it went wrong, were truly special.
Some of the dignitaries who visited the exhibition include British Deputy High Commissioner Gareth Wynn Owen, P.V. Prabhakar Rao, son of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Dr. K Lakshmi IAS, Director State Gallery of Art, and former India football captain Shabbir Ali.
