Enthusiastic participants of Pune Heritage photography Tour at Aga Khan Palace

 

Here is an article that appeared in Maharashtra Herald

 

HERITAGE WALK FOR SHUTTERBUGS, A 'FLASHY' IDEA

 

By a staff reporter

 

Senapati Bapat Road : When it comes to capturing the magnificence of heritage structures, he's the one who calls the shots in Pune. And that's what architect-photographer R D Nagarkar did on Sunday, as he guided a bunch of photography enthusiasts on Pune's first Heritage Walk for Photographers, courtesy the Indiaart Club.

 

A concept popularised by culture-rich European counties, the heritage walk could be a permanent feature that could improve the city's standard as an international tourist destination, says Milind Sathe, founder of the club.

 

A renowned heritage expert, Nagarkar is the lensman who has photographed Pune's heritage picture postcards which were recently released. "These tours are a common feature of European and US tourism. Milind and I deliberated about this tour for a long time. I was wary about the response till I actually saw the enthusiasm of people. The first tour has been a great learning experience for me as well," elaborates Nagarkar, who selected regular heritage spots, including Chatushrungi, University of Pune, Shaniwarwada and Parvati for the first tour, so that the participants could explore various unusual artistic angles of these known places.

 

"Pune is unusually rich in heritage structures. Many buildings, including some ancient wadas from the Peshwa era are definitely worth conserving, though they might not have formal status of a heritage site. Taking their pictures is a way of documenting their grandeur and beauty," Nagarkar says. Vinay Sane, a photography enthusiast and participant of the walk, found the experience well worth the time spent. "As the session was interactive, we shared a lot of ideas and tried new ways of capturing images," Sane says.

 

Milind Sathe believes that such walks will create good artistic works apart from adding to tourism experience. "We hope that a sizeable collection of good pictures of Pune's heritage sites can be made available to those interested through a website. We are planning to include some relatively unknown photo-destinations in the tour shortly," Sathe explains.