Travelling Library initiative by the CPB Learning Lab where a curation of photobooks are taken to various institutions and groups to explore the various themes, forms and possibilities of what a photobook can be.

Shuchi Kapoor

Chennai, INDIA
Shuchi Kapoor

Shuchi Kapoor is a documentary photojournalist from India and is the Co-Founder of the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation — an initiative that facilitates learning and promotion of photography as practice and an art form. Shuchi works at the intersections of visual storytelling as a medium of critical inquiry, research, and education, and is deeply curious about regimes of representation and visual cultures. She is a Dart Asia-Pac Fellow and was awarded the fellowship on Trauma & Journalism (2015). While her origins are from Gujarat & Delhi, she is currently based in Chennai, India where she shapes community engagement, inclusivity initiatives, education programs, and partnerships at the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation and the CPB Learning Lab.

The CPB Learning Lab has been conducting Cyanotype workshops across the years, exciting people of all age groups and backgrounds to explore the magic of cyanotype print making. The workshops have been taken to various schools, colleges, enthusiasts and artists and each year there is a World Cyanotype Day Showcase that takes place in Chennai.

"Photography's purpose, for me, is not about making spectacular and images without a voice. More than anything, I appreciate the richness of feeling through photography that is rooted in context, history, community, collaboration, and thoughtfulness."

Shuchi Kapoor

The winners, partners, organisers at the CPB Photo Awards for excellence in photography in India at the Awards Ceremony 2023 at the Leela Palace Chennai
Communities of Choice – an international collaboration between Ffotogallery, Wales and CPB Foundation, India brought together the works of Welsh and Indian artists on themes of community, belonging, identity and choice through this multi-year project supported by the British Council that was shown at The Kochi Biennale 2022.

"Photography is an effective tool to look inward — to reflect upon how we are seeing things around us, how we are responding to them, to educate ourselves and others, and to make use of this liberty with responsibility, creativity and empathy."

Shuchi Kapoor

The Shared Tides Residency Showcase – a residency program for artists and researchers from Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu to build projects on the theme of shared cultures, identities, cuisine, textiles, history, literature and people. 2 artists from Chennai and 2 from Sri Lanka travelled across the waters to the other side to build their projects that were shown as an exhibition in Chennai that will also travel to Jaffna in March 2024.
CPB Foundation is a repository of significant conversations with artists, photographers, curators, editors and visual art educators – all of which is available on the CPB youtube channel. Seen here is a conversation with artist Sunil Gupta, Director – British Council South India, Janaka Pushpanathan and CPB Co-founder Shuchi Kapoor.

"The unforgetfulness of images therefore lies not in their rule of thirds, but in their emotional quotient and intent that enable resonance, and movements and shifts across time. In that sense, the photographer's legacy rests on the sole question — why photograph?"

Shuchi Kapoor

The Hey! Workshops by the CPB Learning Lab were introduced to use photography as a form of creative expression for people with diverse abilities. Hey! as a title came about as it signifies a greeting and is a non-formal and positive invitation to do something. Currently these workshops are being offered in Chennai.