At LLA, the journey to becoming a visual communicator goes beyond mastering photography techniques. Integrated into the core curriculum are sessions designed to broaden perspectives and nurture well-rounded creatives. The Lateral Thinking Workshop with Mr. Gangadharan Menon was one such session.
The workshop combined thought-provoking classroom sessions with practical exercises. It encouraged students to question their thought process, discover creative solutions, and approach problems from new angles.
Here’s a video about the session
“We were tasked with capturing two contrasting photographs using natural elements: one minimal and one maximal. This activity sharpened my technical skills and deepened my appreciation for nature. It reinforced the academy’s philosophy of discovering one’s unique inner vision and taught me that the key lies in capturing the subject’s essence and telling a meaningful story.” – Sushmitha Dutta
“During the Jugalbandi writing exercise, my teammate Smriti and I had an amazing time. We wrote a poem together, contributing alternate lines, which made it exciting and unpredictable. We ended up creating a beautiful romantic story, and it turned out wonderfully. I’m truly grateful to Ganga Sir for such a memorable experience.” – Subidcha S
“Ganga Sir inspired me to explore new possibilities and overcome my struggles with starting something new. We explored books, films, plays, and artists, created a one-minute short film to work within constraints, and collaborated on poems in Jugalbandi writing—a challenging yet rewarding experience. I also learned to see nature in abstract and surreal ways through maximalism and minimalism shots. Truly loved Sir’s class.” – Vishnu Raj
Gangadharan Menon has worked as a school teacher, journalist, theatre actor, theatre director, film actor and documentary film maker before joining advertising. He then worked as a Copywriter and Creative Director for 28 years in India’s leading advertising agencies. Quit the industry 16 years ago to take up teaching and travel.
He has won over 50 national and international awards, including Clio, New York Festivals and London International Awards. His work has been published in The Last Word which is a collection of 16 of India’s finest copywriters chosen across five decades. Over 150 of his articles on Nature and wildlife have been published in India’s leading newspapers. He has six books to his credit till date. In 2016 he was honoured by Sanctuary Asia Foundation for his contribution in saving the last evergreen forest in India: Silent Valley in Kerala. He has given a TEDx talk on ‘Finding your Ikigai’ which is essentially about finding the reason for your existence. It has had over 2 lakh 82 thousand views in 7 years.
After spending 10 years as Professor Adjunct in Rachana Sansad College of Applied Art, he was Professor Adjunct at VIVA Institute of Applied Art and Fine Art for two years. For the last three years, he is Guest Faculty at Ecole Intuit Lab which is a French Design Institute, NIFT Mumbai, MIT School of Design Alandi Pune and Indore, and Light and Life Academy Ooty.
He was one of the 25 artists/writers/film makers selected from across 7 countries by the legendary Annie Leibovitz for portrait photography as part of the IKEA Artist in Residence programme in 2023.
Here’s the extended interview with Mr. Gangadharan Menon
