What Is a Picture Worth?

May 26, 2011

Renowned Photographer and Professor Hersh Chadha has made a career of telling stories through his art.  Now, Professor Chadha is helping the next generation of storytellers through a generous donation to AUCA.  The gift, in excess of $500,000 US, will be used to support the activities of the Journalism and Mass Communications department, student scholarships, and the new campus Construction.  When the new campus is complete, the rooms that house the special video and photographic equipment of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications will be named after the Chadha Family. In addition, Professor Chadha’s donation will support at least 20 partial tuition scholarships for students in the Program of Journalism and Mass Communication.   The first cohort of Chadha Family Journalism Scholars will be chosen in the 2011 Fall semester.

Professor Chadha backs his commitment to demonstrating the value of photography through action, and he has inspired countless apprentices to express themselves through pictures.  During his visit to AUCA in April, Professor Chadha delivered public lectures on photography, presented his books Visions of Nature and With Ink & Film to the AUCA library, and led a photography workshop for students.  He also recruited 3 AUCA students to study photography with him in Dubai this summer, continuing to donate his time to mentor and develop AUCA's promising students.

AUCA students were particularly enthused to learn the nuances of fashion photography from the master himself. “These trainings were fabulous! We were divided into two groups and each had a ‘theme’ to develop. The theme for the indoor group was ‘retro,’ with models dressed up in retro style outfits. The outdoor group had a ‘wedding dress’ theme, and models donned beautiful wedding gowns,” excitedly shared Svetlana Verchenko, a senior from the JMC department, who was also chosen for an internship with Professor Chadha in Dubai.

Andrew Wachtel, AUCA President, announced the gift saying, “Professor Chadha's investment in the future of Central Asian journalism is timely and important.  Equally valuable are his personal time and financial contributions to AUCA and its students.  Looking forward to further collaboration and outreach, AUCA is grateful to Professor Chadha, and wishes him many more inspiring chapters to his life's story.”

 Professor Hersh Chadha resides in the UAE, where he works with a number of wildlife agencies conserving Arabian wildlife, and has made significant photographic contributions to these agencies. He is also an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society (ARPS), and runs a global network of business activities from Dubai.

Photo by Valeriy Georgiadi

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