08/09/2026
What makes a photograph matter - when anyone and many platforms can generate images.
That was the question at the heart of “Why Images Matter,” our panel discussion at SIGMA India HQ, held in the context of the CPB International Photography Open Call — Edition 3.
Senthil Kumaran, World Press Photo winner & National Geographic Explorer:
“A good photograph makes you look. A great photograph makes you think.” For Kumaran, the strongest images come from a photographer’s emotional and ethical connection with their subject.
Dhivya Ravishankar, interdisciplinary artist & CPB Open Call alum:
“Only after being selected and exhibited in the CPB Open Call, where my work was presented among other established artists and photographers, I felt confident of calling myself an artist.”
Ashok Saravanan, photographer & co-founder, Chennai Weekend Clickers:
“What matters to me is the person behind the camera.” As AI-generated imagery grows harder to tell apart from photography, he argued that the human presence behind an image matters more than ever.
Ananthasainan Seshan, Director, Shetala Agencies Pvt. Ltd. | SIGMA India:
“Technology is here to stay. It is not going to take the photographer out of you — it is only going to make you evolve as a photographer.”
By the end of the conversation, no single definition of an “important” photograph had emerged — and that was perhaps the point. Across documentary work, constructed imagery, community practice and new technology, the discussion kept circling back to curiosity, empathy, commitment, and the person behind the image.
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CPB International Photography Open Call — Edition 3 is open now.
Submissions close on 31st October 2026.
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Video & Edit: Bhuvana Sekar
