BHOPAL: Well-known artist and photographer Padmashree laureate Waman Thakre passed away at 8.30pm in the city on Tuesday. He was 84. His last rites would be performed at Subhash Nagar crematorium. The funeral procession would be taken out from his residence at Rachna Nagar at 11am on Wednesday.
Born in Ramtek, a village in Nagpur district of Maharashtra, Thakre was the only photographer in the country who has been awarded with Padmashree. The Government of Madhya Pradesh awarded him Shikhar Award in 1988.
Thakre did his schooling at Samarth Vidyalaya, Ramtek and New Era High School, Nagpur. He went to Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur and Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy School of Arts, Mumbai. He was the deputy director of Panchayat and Social Service of the Government of Madhya Pradesh at the time of his superannuation.
He had conducted several exhibitions in India and abroad and held several rare photographs in his collection. He was the advisor of Photolovers, an Indore-based photographic organisation and involved with promotion of photography in the state.
