Vice President Hamid Ansari  conferred four eminent photojournalists, including India’s first lady photojournalist Homai Vyarwalla, with Life-Time Achievement awards.

Homai Vyarawalla and Delhi-based S Paul won the lifetime achievement awards by Photojournalists while Benu Sen, author of the famous publication ‘Art of Photography’, and K G Maheshwari from Mumbai bagged the honours in the Pictorialists category.

“The photography in the modern sense dates back to the 19th century and much before…the painting of Bhimbhetka rock Caves in Madhya Pradesh, Ajantha caves…Modern photography in India has an excellent pedigree,” Ansari said while giving away the awards that include a cash prize of Rs 1.50 lakhs, a shawl, a memento and a citation.

The awards commemorate the Golden Jubillee of the establishment of Photo Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting C M Jatua were present on the occasion.

“Photography contributed thousands of universal images that resonates in human minds and also through the pages of history. It requires instinct, artistic ability and the talent to catch art and visual moments at the spur of the moment,” Ambika Soni said.