Ahmedabad teacher wins ‘green pic’ contest on Facebook

Vishal Kurani, a city-based teacher, has won the ‘Clean and Green’ Facebook photo contest, organised by the American Centre in Mumbai.

A photo contest based on the themes of global climate change, greenhouse gases and deforestation, ‘Clean and Green’ was judged by eminent Vadodara-based photographer Rahul Gajjar. Gajjar used technical merit, thematic relevance, and composition as the main evaluation criteria for the contest.

Kurani calls himself an ardent nature lover. He often visits forests and sanctuaries in search of peace and a site for reflection. In his photograph caption, Kurani used a variation of a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote to reflect his passion. He wrote, “In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through me. In spite of my sorrows, I am glad ‘to be’.”

Kurani won an Ipod Nano for his picture of a softly-lit beautiful plant. Besides him, Ashwin Tahiliani from Mumbai and Priya Shah from Ahmedabad were declared runners-up for their photographs.
One of the categories in the competition was “Popular appeal”. In this category, “Fan favourite” awards were presented to the two photographers whose photos received the highest number of ‘likes’. Rushabh Gandhi of Vadodara and Kanika Nagpal of Mumbai were the winners in this category.

All five winners will also receive a free American Library or American Corner membership. The American Library is located in Churchgate, Mumbai.