one picture; thousand memories....

17 September, 2011
Kazipara, Dhaka, Bangladesh

I had been postponing this shoot for more than a year now.... but thanks God that I've finally completed this.... feeling relieved....

Nazmun Nahar is my aunt; my mother's elder sister.... a strong personality known to a lot of people.... she had been a teacher for most of her life; lighting candles; and also leading others to do the same.... she had been the mainstay of Manipuri School for decades.... now, into her retirement, she still seeks that please in her work.... joining a much smaller school.... but doing the same thing.... teaching....



she had walked most of her path alone.... the school had been her life.... that had kept her busy for most of her life.... she had always been a popular member of our family.... well qualified and opinionated.... she is known in the family as Pakhi (meaning "bird").... indeed she had been independent all through her life..... she had been through quite a lot of medical procedures of late, which left her much weaker than before.... her discipline keeps her going.... her mental strength and willpower are exemplary, even today...





today, at an advanced stage of her life, she holds her mother's (my grandma) portrait intimately and finds all the similarities.... grandma hasn't aged a day since that photo was taken.... but that picture and others like that bring out all the lovely memories.... its just a few pictures we leave behind... but each picture holds thousands of memories....

the lighting setup was simple for this shoot.... just a single light.... a YN-560 inside a Westcott Apollo 28" softbox.... my favourite "window light"....Elinchrom Skyports used as trigger...

this is a series I am currently doing with the senior members of my family.... I need that determination to complete it.... hope I don't lazy again!

much much more to come....

a tearful achievement.....

08 April 2011
Dhaka, Bangladesh

it was the 29th of May 2009 when I had made a visit to 33 Paridas Road at Old Dhaka..... it was a building waiting to be destroyed.... the 170-year old structure was actually destroyed not too long after that visit of ours.... I had a plan to show the pictures to the owners so that they could rethink their decision.... but somehow, I failed to reach them and the obvious happened....

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

it was an emotional feel for me when I saw the pictures in a presentation I made for the owners.... even though the presentation never reached the owners, it certainly moved me.... so, when I got a mail from a person who lived in that building way back before the Liberation War of 1971, I immediately knew how he felt like.... even I could feel life and memory in every brick and every bend..... I can still remember the shiver I got when I saw that old picture lying on the ruinous top floor.....

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

From Legend of Peari Das, Dhaka, May 2009

I had a long phone conversation with him tonight..... and that conversation gave me a feel..... a feel that makes you believe in your cause.... you immediately know that you have broken the barriers of time..... and you know that in this day of globalization, its not too difficult to reach to people you never thought could be reached.....

I am glad that one day I decided to pick up that machine called camera..... and whatever I have done with that machine in my hand is going to remain as some of my top achievements in my life..... and some of those top achievements would be tearful achievements....

I've finished the Chawk Bazar "Iftar-walk" blog within one night!!

ah!!..... have I become that efficient??...... I've finished the blog in one night!!.... can't believe this myself!! :)....... my Sundarbans blog is still unfinished and now I'm writing another blog within one night??

this was a nice photowalk........ and somehow, it looked to me more like an "Iftar-walk"....... it was not just a photography trip....... we were among the many types of Iftar and sniffing our way into each and every corner of the market...... anyway, this is the link to my travel blog post:

Chawk Bazar "Iftar-walk", August 2009

An Old Dhaka "Iftar-walk"??

yea, once again Old Dhaka..... but this time, its a Ramadan flavour...... went to Old Dhaka for an Iftar several years back..... somehow didn't like the items there...... in fact, hated most of the things..... not sure whether we got the taste of some exceptionally bad cook.... we've always heard so much about it that it makes me think twice before criticising those........

anyways, this time round the Iftar would be accompanied by some cameras...... TTL has called their "Iftar-walk" there this time...... around half-a-century photographers have enlisted their names...... lets see what kind of chaos we can add to that usually chaotic place during the most chaotic times.....:)