Portrait that tells a story wins accolade
AWARD-WINNING South African photographer Karishma R Rajcomar added another photography accolade to her resumé when she was named the winner of the Canon Perfect Picture 2022.
Rajcomar, from Westville, is an honours graduate from the Durban University of Technology. She obtained cum laude in photography and graphic design. She is also a philanthropist. Owing to her excellent academic achievement, she was awarded a bursary to further her studies. Her honours project focused on photographing street children.
“Photography and giving back to the community has always been my passion,” she said.
This is what led to her entering the Glow TV: Spread The Love Competition, where she became victorious and ended up pocketing R250000, which she donated to the Durban Children’s Home. “My objective was to try to get awareness from companies to help or various role-players. Pick n Pay was the first company to get involved by providing food vouchers before Glow TV contributed with marketing,” she said.
A lover of portrait photography, Rajcomar also took part in the Canon Perfect Picture Competition, which ran in conjunction with a seven-part series involving celebrities. It involved thousands of entries from all over the continent. The winning picture was called Stare In Agony, and she also attached a poem with it, which speaks of a homeless man and how despite his situation, he still looked at the next day with hope and optimism.
Rajcomar says that his eyes told a story despite him being partially blind. The picture is a portrait of this man.
She has also won the Cheapflights: Share Your Love, an international competition, and the prize was a paid trip to New York as well as a shopping spree
and allowance for three weeks. The competition required photographers to provide reasons as to why they should be selected to win the prize.
Her favourite type of portraits are of newborn babies. She also mentioned how happy she felt when her picture was used in an international magazine in December, 2021. It was in the same magazine as a world-renowned newborn baby photographer, Ana Brandt.
“My advice to upcoming photographers is to have patience and practise as much as possible in order to make their dreams a reality. Although photography can sometimes be very time-consuming, it is self-rewarding. Always do your best and never give up, because great things take time.”