Day One....... BIF-3, the landmark exhibit!!

25 March 2011
Drik Gallery, Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

It was the grandest of openings to the Bangladesh in Frames II…. BIF3 is already a landmark and the opening was a landmark within that…. What can I say other than it was a landmark within a landmark??..... it really was an awesome feeling being part of such a grand venture….. we’re mostly amateurs and yet the exhibit image doesn’t make one feel so…. BIF3 is fast turning into a photo festival…. And with time, it sure will….. it’s a lot more than seeing one’s own pictures hanging on the wall of a big gallery…. The birthday cake in coming on the 2^nd day, TTL’s birthday (26^th March), which is also the Independence Day of Bangladesh!..... a great day a awaits us…..

The first day of BIF3 at Drik Gallery saw a great many people showing up…… the number of participants this time (102) tells the story, actually…. It simply had to get the publicity it deserved….. it was also a weekend, so, a big turnover was expected…..

For us, the day started from the morning, seeing the last-minute preparations…… can’t give enough thanks to Shudipto and his team for working feverishly day and night to make this happen….. Avik Bhai worked wonders with the banners, which made visitors stand and admire…… the group shot in front of Drik looked like an achievement….. our chief guest, renowned photographer Anwar Hossain took a pause in front of the group shot to take a snap!!..... that was enough of an admiration for the work!!

Faisal Bhai and me are going to Radio Foorti on 26^th to talk about the exhibit, some time after 10:00AM…. That’s part of the publicity you need for a grand event like this….. Radio Foorti had been a very supportive media partner for us……

The first day ended with some pictures as well….. I was looking for that opportunity to snap a few shots of my photographer buddies….. Kamrul was my first choice…. Big thanks to him for being a very cooperative subject….. Kamrul Hasan is one of the most talented young photographer that I know…. A master in the art of B&W, though of late he has proven his expertise in coloured photos as well….. a great photographer of people in his own right, Kamrul is an icon to a lot of young photographers of Bangladesh…. a very pleasant character; unassuming; a delightful company.... a good friend!

D700+20mm+Elinchrom Skyport

Strobist info: one SB-900 on camera right, above subject, shooting through a white shoot-through umbrella, held by VAL (Zaim), triggered by Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger

Then it was Tinku Bhai again…… a painful subject to shoot!!.... arghhhhh!!.... very demanding…. I now know how perfectionist directors are….. but what a subject he is!!.... so creative; always full of ideas; and what a luck for the photographer to just to make sure that the photo isn’t screwed up…. It’s a guarantee that it will be a killer idea….. it took me some time to figure out what Tinku Bhai wanted…. But once it clicked, it was like cakewalk….. only a handful of shots to make it perfect….. I fetched a scarf, which ultimately made the shot taken from “Good Bad Ugly”….. man!! was I happy?? :D

D700+85mm+Elinchrom Skyport

Strobist info: one SB-900 on camera right, above subject, shooting through a white shoot-through umbrella, held by VAL (Nasif), triggered by Elinchrom Skyport radio trigger

exhibit pics are here in this album....

A lot more to come….. stay tuned….

midnight madness!!

18-19 March 2011
Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

we did this for the third time in three years now..... we call it the TTL Posterwalk..... its more like experiencing it, rather than just overseeing postering...... BIF-III is (March 25-29) very near now..... so, publicity is now a top priority..... this year, the Posterwalk had been the biggest in three years, with more and more dedicated members willing to experience the extreme.... you gotta call this extreme.... going out, camera in hand, with a bunch of crazy folks, right in the middle of the night isn't something called normal behaviour..... and that too, to watch posters being pasted!!

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

well, whats in this world without a bit of madness??..... this event had been one of our unique calls ever since we devised the idea.... there's no way of hating this, once someone puts his/her name in there..... some say, photographers are crazy..... and its difficult to go against that statement after someone witnesses this craziness.....

experiencing Dhaka at the dead of night is something unique..... we are used to seeing the same places busy like hell.... all day long.... an empty place is gives a unique view and sort of an eerie feel.... but an experience that stays in memory for long.....

I was presented with the opportunity to do something that I had been trying to accomplish for some time..... that is to do some portraiture of some interesting people that I know.... and I got really lucky to a bit of that..... this goes along my new year's resolution on making 2011 a year of people photography....

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

this shot of Hameem was in available light; high ISO..... I just grabbed my camera finding him in the most unusual of poses.... he's one of the most important members of TTL, with great knowledge in photography, especially in his own area of slow-shutter...... thats now my area of expertise, which is why I went the easy way......

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

Avik Bhai (AKA) has always been one of most interesting subjects to shoot for any photographer...... not that I've not shot him before, but this is probably the first time I've done a portrait of him with at least some set menu...... one of the most creative guys I've known, he's a great friend and an important member of TTL......
D700 + 20mm f2.8 + Elinchrom Skyport
f2.8, 1/30sec. ISO 1600
Strobist info: one SB-900, camera right, shooting through a white umbrella, triggered by Elinchrom Skyport; held up by Kamal (Shadow of Dark)

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

then it was time for a smallish group shot with Vashkar Bhai, Avik Bhai and Kamal.....
same setup..... assisted by Rezwan (I believe)

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

then I switched my eyes to Tinku Bhai.... what a great subject he is..... his physical stature alone makes him a unique subject..... a very creative guy and it can be seen while trying to shoot him... he comes up with his own ideas and the photographer has to to just click..... well, clicking wasn't so easy though, as finding the focus in that tricky light was no small problem.... even a torch wasn't enough when there were car headlights as backlight.....
the setup was the same as above..... then I switched lenses and tried to get at least a different perspective....

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

From TTL Posterwalk, March 2011

we had our group photo session some time around 1:00AM...... its a pity that with some things to catch up in the morning, I had to avoid the night-long event..... I knew I was gonna miss some rare moments along that time..... but I didn't have that luxury for some reason..... just a participation in an event like this is a privilege.... such a walk in the street doesn't happen that often..... lucky to be a part of such a crazy bunch!! :)

A day of exhibits......

05 June 2010
Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Just came back from watching several exhibitions Saturday. After getting in touch with quite a few photographers in that nice afternoon, we decided to explore Dhanmondi, where all the action was! First went to Alliance Francaise, where the exhibition was on Rural Exodus. 12 photographers participated in this story-based photography exhibition. There were some really large prints, which were nice to see. But the exhibition wasn’t producing that nice feeling. To be honest, it hardly made any impact on any one of us visiting the exhibit. The stories were not there; rather there were two photos each from each story, which couldn’t give any idea about what the full story was about. It was a compromise, and ultimately it came to nothing. And the choice of pictures to bed hung on the wall was also poor in my view. Altogether, it was a real disappointment.

From Alliance Francaise, we went to Goethe Institute. And quite contrary to our expectations, the exhibit was closed! What the guard said, was that exhibits remain closed on holidays! It seemed like a ridiculous way of promoting something. Usually weekends see the highest number of visitors in any exhibit. But they seemed to be living in a completely different world altogether!

Anyway, we went to the third exhibit of the day, which was going on at Bengal Gallery. This was a solo exhibit from GMB Akash. The exhibit contained several photo-stories from several places, but all combined under one theme, “Soulscapes”. This was a really good exhibit with a lot of space to talk about. There were photo stories on Varanashi’s Burning Ghat, from a brothel in Dhaka, from cyclone Aila survivors in Satkhira, working children of Bangladesh, suicide farmers from India and old asylum. GMB Akash’s ability to use light has to be considered regarded highly. Some shots made it there only because of the exceptional light conditions. Some classic compositions were also there. The old asylum picture from Nepal with the two old people sleeping on the floor while a woman crosses them, was superb; and in my view, one of the best. His particular fascination for extreme shallow depth of field catches the eye. In some cases, one can debate on the philosophy behind that. There was one whole wall filled with words, and a couple of chairs were placed in front. The words described GMB Akash’s philosophy and his way of work. It shed light on some of the intimate memories he had while building that whole portfolio. Words of wisdom, words of experience. Liked those.

That’s how we ended our day of exhibit. It was a nice afternoon and evening spending the time with friends. And it was a productive day judging by the amount of discussion we had on the exhibits.

The brilliant Raghu Rai............

what a treat it was to visit Magnum photographer Raghu Rai's exhibition at Bengal Gallery!...... I've seen Raghu Rai's works and always found myself amazed...... but seeing those same pictures in front of your own eyes as massive printouts is something different..... for me, the visit to Raghu Rai's exhib was almost a 'life-changing' thing.......

each of his works were so expressive and descriptive that it was very difficult for me to move from one picture to another....... I had seen most of the displayed images online..... had admired them, but was never able to "touch" them....... most of the images had enough vastness to captivate a viewer for minutes...... they're not just photographs, they're a study of human life......

most of the images had the potential to look like cluttered images to the untrained eye...... where there were too many things in the image and everything was in focus..... but once one spent some time in front of the pics, he/she would begin to realise how much detail one image contained and how they completed the story that the photographer wanted to say....... those tiny details showed the keen eye of Raghu Rai; an eye for detail that is difficult to match......

each image contained a decisive moment that made it unique....... it made me wonder how on earth was he able to manage that moment in every single shot!....... that gave me an idea why Raghu Rai is considered one of the bests in the world......

his shots reminded me that every part of a frame is precious and should be utilised..... and what did he fill the frame with?...... was he always able to find something to fill the frame?....... yes! always!....... he filled the frames with life.......

most of the images had great depth in them...... most of the thing in focus........ they all combine to tell a story........ and yes, you needed those massive prints to realise that...... tiny thumbnail shots are no way to study the works of this genius......

one would be able to find that the images were not taken with utilisation of hardware's extremeties...... they were just as we see the world...... there was no use of extreme wide-angle distortion or flattened tele perspectives...... they gave you a feel that you're part of the image too....... you could touch life just by staring at them......

for me, this was a lesson in photography, a lesson in viewpoint, a lesson in philosophy........ we're so easily attracted to images that have very few elements in them...... they're so easy to read, even if you see them as a thumbnail...... but does it always tell the story?....... is life so uncluttered?....... is life so isolated?.......

Raghu Rai's prints have made think twice about what to do with a camera.......