Neydhal – Tales of the sea, soil and humanity
“Every face is a tale, a smiling volcano carrying within the invisible fire and the visible resolve.” As one enters the Hallegua Hall - Palette People Gallery & Artists’ Studio in Mattancherry, Kochi, where Neydhal (The Coast), an exhibition of photographs by Vetrivel, an upcoming photographer from Chennai, is on, what captures the attention of the viewers is the ethnic features of the people whose eyes tell the stories of their struggles and fights against the odd, as reflected in this caption. Of course, Vetrivel has been deeply interested in photography ever since his childhood, and he used to roam around with his mom’s cellphone, capturing the everyday objects that fancied him. However, the childhood impression slowly transformed into a passion and he started looking at photography as a medium of art to capture various facets of our society at its expressive best. “As the realities of life that cannot be expressed in a few words emerged before me, I gained the confidence to use