With its immense power to convey truth and document reality, photography is arguably the foremost art form of these times. That said its potential to capture a subject in a timeless and lyrical vocabulary is what really sets it apart.

That particular quality of a good photograph was on ample display recently during an exhibition christened Picturesque 2.0, which was mounted at the Jamini Roy Gallery, ICCR, Kolkata. Arranged by a non profit organisation called Fram-A-Gine, it marked their second anniversary of existence. This year, though, their exhibition did not only recognise people for their art — the organisation supported the cause of children’s education as well. They auctioned most of the prints from the exhibition and the proceeds from the same were donated to Cry-Child Rights and You. Another great touch was to make 20 children from Cry’s volunteer intervention areas inaugurate the event.

Coming to the exhibition proper, 67 photographs were selected from a pool of 1700 entries, which came from across India and neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Of them 30 were shortlisted and a judging panel comprising Kallol Majumder, Subir Basak and Amitava Chandra picked the top three. Suvankar Sen’s shot of a gulaal-smeared woman was adjudged the best of the lot — going by the inherent drama in the image, it is small wonder that it bagged the top honours.

On the second position came Lahore-resident Adeel Chishti’s beautiful capture of a boy, walking on a railway track, while driving rain soaks him to the bone — an umbrella notwithstanding. The innocence on his face is what makes the shot but there’s also a lurking sense of danger. What if a train comes along? On the other hand, Raju Ghosh with his picture of the City of Joy, reflected in a puddle, took home the third prize.

But there were other remarkable pictures as well. Tanmoy Bhadhuri’s photograph of a young boy standing forlorn under a coconut tree as a cargo ship chugs along in the distance is exceptional to say the least. The dimensions in the image stand out — the giant ship, the little boy and a sea of foreboding clouds but it would have made for an even better picture had the tree-top not been cropped out.

Bangladeshi national Mohammed Rubel’s picture of a boy smiling out from the remnants of a television set makes for another striking visual. The theme of childhood with all its associated emotions ran through most of the exhibition’s most stunning works.