B r id g in g B o u n d a r ie s ndAs ia bas grow n significantly durin g

The range ofpb otog rapb icfes tival s and exbib ition s arou
la, beld every two year s in Db aka,
t!Je past decade. One of tbe most impo rtan t is Chob i Me
rnali sm, a form tbat man y will dispu te
Bangladesb. Tbis year 's festiv al tume d arou nd pbot ojou
witb in a worl d alrea dy inun date d by
as art, but cann ot deny tbe impa ct sucb work bas bad
m for pbot ogra pber s from arou nd the
myri ad form s of imagetJI. Chob i Mela stand s out as a foru
te and powe tful.
worl d whos e pass ion for tbeir form is strik ingly imm edia

By Zhua ng Wub in
I

i than in India or sheet are also import ant from a

historical
the afterno on press confer ence, in Bangl adesh rather points

A
t . That was one of the
about the counu y·s point-of-view
on the day before the openin g Singap ore says much raised by Pledge during the intense evenin g
ent, and Alam's dose
of Cbobi Me/a IV, in Dhaka , phomg raphic movem presen tations , which r:.w, from the start of
it since its foundi ng.
the most radica l festiva l on involv ement with consec utive nights at
the interna tional photog raphic Presen ted in the form of 30 contacts the festival, for seven
ed to Goethe -lnstitu t. The festival , which feature d
each of which was enlarg
calendar, the directo r Dr. Shahic\ul Alam sheets , rapher s from 23
meters, the exhibi tion provid ed 47 exhibi tions by photog
said, "Ten clays back, we were on the 1. 5 by 2 ies, is now in iL'i fourth edition .
of the world during the past countr
edge of a civil war. The streets of Dhaka an overvi ew the pun The theme for Cbobi Me/a Ill was
s. Witho ut missin g
were on fire. Nobod y believ ed we would three decade Alam writes:
photof estival . And yet we will." in its title, the choice of showi ng contac t bound aries. As Dr. Shahidul
have a "Whet her cattle are well fed, or children go
ts nostalgia in the digital age
The show, entitle d CONTACT/5 30: 71Je sheets sugges hungry , wheth er bombs
Art of Pboto journa lism are valid for clefen. 'ie
( 1976- 2006) , opene d or tools of aggres sion,
at the National Museu m boun darie s-see n and
on sched ule, even as tlrt..:;een--define our modes
the paint was drying of condu ct, our freedoms.
on the \Valls and even our values, our ve1y ability
as the Museu m, it \.Vas to recogn ize the presen ce
thoug ht, had been of the bound aries that
unreas onable in the time bind us." And during
it had allowe d volunt eers his presen tation, in line
and emplo yees from Drik with CONTACT/S ]O, Tbc
Picture Librat y-hos t of Art o.f Pboto jounza !ism,
the festiv al-to put up Rober t Pledg e talked
the show, which opene d about a difrer ent kind
on Novem ber 9, 2006. As of bound ary-o ne that
soon as it was possib le to separa ted the old world
hang the prints, curato r of photog raphy with the
Robert Pledge , presid ent cmren t one. The year was
of Contac t Press Images, 1989. "That year, I saw
strator s
return ed to set up the A Ion Reininger, South Africa - Dog trainin g agains t anti-Ap artheid demonThe Art of the fall of the Berlin \'\fall,
from "CONTACTIS 30:
exhibi tion. He worke d I Police Acade my Pretor ia, 1976, contact press image studen ts on Tianan men
" (1976-2006).
with volun teers and Photojournalism need to make Square , and the end of Soviet Union -all of
is no longer the
recent gradua tes of Pathsh ala, the South when there TV," recalle d Pledge . 'Then the
On the downs ide, due to the these- --on
Asian Institu te of Photo graphy and the such prints. more world opene d. Instead of a fe\V hundre d
educat ional arm of Drik. propen sity of photog rapher s taking
deletin g them digitall y, photog rapher s, there are now thousa nds
Celebr ating the 30th annive rsary images and then world. Before
fears that we will end up of them runnin g around the
of Conta ct Press Image s, one of the Robe1t Pledge record of the 1989, who would have imagin ed that
a less than compl ete
agenci es that surviv ed the merge rs and keepin g photo graph ers could sell
than in the analog age. As he Bangl adeshi
acquis itions that led to the domin ance of world today picture s to the world? " Intern et access \vas
even though only one image
Getty and Corbis, CONTACT!S 30, The Art pointe d out, al compu ters
was one of the major is selecte d out of 36 on most occasions, still limited then but person
of Pbotojourna!ism ing afford able for the masses.
ed" frames from each contac t were becom
shows of 2006. The fact that it was shown the "reject
MARCH/APRIL2007
48 ASIAN ART NEWS
 Trent Parke (Australia), New Year Eve, Gunneda h, New South Wales,
from Minutes to Midnight (2003-2004), 2003.
'·It's technology bUL it's not just technology," "It is worthwh ile to consider why Trent we just have to he more creative ."
noted Pledge. ·'In the past, Nationa l Parke has become part of Magnum at such
Geop,mpbic would send phorograpl1ers out W'hile Parke's work often straddles
a young age. His work is not typic;:tl of the line between fact and fiction, he
on assignme nt for six to 18 months. Now, i'vlagmnn. But I think .Magnum ::dso needs has already been widely recogniz ed
the maximum is six weeks." people to push the agency, especial ly by awards that tr<1ditionally celebrat e
now, when photogr aphy is changing ." clocument;:lly photogr;.1phy, including the

A
ccording to the eo-found er of And he went on, "Nowad ays, we rend \Y/ Eugene Smith Award and \Vorkl Pre~s
Contact Press Images, there have to moan about photojou rnalism dying or Photo (\'1/PP), which he ha::; won on four
been major shifts. in recent years the lack of SJXlce to publish work. On our occasions. Before th~1t. Parke worked for
within the photogra phic world- part, we have decided whether an image an Australian newspap er, doing a fair hit
the effects of which have yet to can be conside red photojo urnalist ic of sports photogra phy and acquiring an
be fully apprecia ted. What is definite is th;:lt or not. But the world is evolving and innate sense of timing.
it has become harder for
photogm phers to make ·a "Even then, I
statemen t in this image- was trying to challeng e
saturate d world. The the boundar ies of the
challeng e now lies in craft, to see if I could
their ability to push the use a different angle or
boundar ies or reinvent composi tion for the same
the medium. Trent Parke, image,"' said Parke during
35, the only Austnliian in his present<ltion. l'vluch
the celebr;:Hecl Magnum like the texture of his
group, is an excellen t images, P<Hke speaks
role model. as if there is somethin g
Introd ucing boiling just beneath the
Parke's Jl1inule s to surh!ce, but never quite
Midnigb l (2003-2 004) spilling over. "Back at the
during the opening newspap er. I \Vas ahvays
receptio n :H the Bengal criticize d by the older
Gallery of Fine Arts. photogr aphers because
Dr. Alam issued a my pictures were too dark
simihtr challeng e to the and had no sh;:tclows. But
Trent Parke (Australia), Midnight , Self Portrait Meninde e, New that's how I saw things. If
photogra phers present: Minutes to Midnight (2003·2004 ), 2003. South Wales, from
I printed all the tones, it
MARCH/APRIL 2007
ASIAN ART NEWS 49
woulcln 't be me. I'm glad I have stuck with
it. \Xll10 knows what would have happe ned
if I had taken their advice?"
Since he left the newsp aper in 1999,
Parke saved for a long road trip across
the Outba ck. the \Vorld's driest inhabi ted
land, in search or a respon se to an article
that he read saying that 60 percen t or the
Australians felt that the countr y had lo.'>t her
innoce nce, that the countr y was no longer
the same. Everything he earned went into
the dream of seeing his country. By 2003,
Parke saved enoug h to buy a four-wheel
drive and a two-man tent for his journey.
Then he faced anothe r challen ge. In the
Outba ck, it is possib le to go for several
month s witho ut seeing a doud. And
for someo ne \Vho feels that the '·sharp.
piercing light of Australia .. has informed
his photog raphy, workin g in the Outba ck
forced Parke to start shooti ng at night,
under a difrerent set or light condit ions Munim Wasef (Bangladesh), from Living Bound aries: The Story of 'Tainte d Tea' 2005-20insect 06. A
to. "I was shooti ng tea leaves. The ground is wet and there are more
from what he was used sudden splash of rain has just washed the hills and the
wears an irritated look as
worker in the Kapai Garden of Lashkarpur Tea Estate
evetything and processing my itnages along bites than usuaL A female tea while watchin g her step on the slippery ground. She has grown accustomed to
she continues to pick leaves,
the way, trying to identify certain things," the insects, but stilL.
said Parke. "At one time, I had about 500 SIOIJ' qf Tainte d
Munim \\''asef. '·Trent Parke's Lil'ing Boundaries: The
images on the wall that I felt had someth ing photog rapher narrati ve Tea (200)-2 006) and shown at Bangladesh's
ents a new style of
in them. Sometimes, I didn't know why I work repres my eluting CbobiJlicda n:
that is inward -lookin g. I-Ie Shilp<~kala Acade
was drawn to t::lke an image. It just came photog raphy Wascf' s work shares the dark tonality of
tmnsfo nncd his feelings into his
from somew here. Two month s later, I has really is physic ally Parke's images hut the manne r in which he
all his pictures, he
would look at anothe r image and realize work. In chance d upon the story is entirel y di!Terent.
logically present."
that I had already taken the same picture. and psycho \X'asef was in Sylhet, in the northe ast of
All the while, the intensity \vas building up weddi ng shoot, when
reccnt gradu ate of Pathsh ahl, Bangla desh for a

A
until the explosion.,. friend took him to n tea garden , where
This "explo sion," named after "\X'ascf joins a long list of his
e's the geogra phy and landsc ape appear ed to
photographers from the Institut
a Midni ght Oil song, shock ed many exotic. And yet, he
alumni who have taken up Dr. him as unt~uniliar and
Australians and left an indelible impression quickl y got a sense oF the human drama
Alam"s call to use the mediu m ::1s
on others who have seen it. "The way he and the unfold ing in these tea estates , where a form
against "the govern ment
constr ucts and edits his story- the way a weapo n reigns. According
the space betwe en two images elite, the donor comm unity, the patriarchal of neo-co\onialism still
he creates to W<1scf, apart from a few private- and
the "self appoin ted protectors
and the way he conne cts them- is very system" and ." Titled gover nment ~owne d garden s, most or the
us and family values
refreshing," said 24-ycar-old Bangb deshi of religio estates arc stili in the hands of British
interests. "One of the manag ers even wears
the half-pants (a relic fron1 the coloninl
days) to work," said \\Tasef.
The worke rs are often asked to
work !Or pennie s. Some of them .arc a.'>
young as 13, with absolu tely no access
to educat ion. Malaria affects the worke rs
and the water that they get from the wells
is conlam inated . ;'Previ ously, most of
these worke rs have come from the Indi-an
states of Bihar and Assam. Todny, they are
consid ered to be Bangladeshi citizens but
they have no access to the tights of being n
memb er of this country," Wasef says. "These
estates arc often in very remote areas so
that the \vorke rs will not mi.~ with people
from mains tream societ y and becom e
aware of their rights. In other words, the
estate owner s want to make them their
moder n slaves." Naturally, the owner s were
very suspic ious of Wasel~s presen ce. There
Munim Wasef (Bangladesh), from Living Bound aries:
The Story of 'Tainte d Tea' 2005-20 06. ll's were a few occasi ons when he had to hide
d
e at Kapai Tea Garden. Lunch is a paste made from dried tea leaves, chili, and a pinch of salt. Crouche in the bushes as the manag ers sudden ly
lunchtim to
are having lunch. This particular paste is the best way
inside the thukris used for picking leaves, the women
is more work to do. made their round s at the garden s. ··we
satisfy hunger and yet not feel drowsy because there

MARCH/APRil 2007
50 ASIAN ART NEWS
 take te~1 every day, so much so that it is
part of our lives and cullure, and yet, we
are not aw;:Jre of the exploitat ion in the tea
gardens," says \\/asef.
Aestheticdly, \'\/asef feels indebted
to Indian master photogr<:tpher lbghu
Rai. "l-Ie's the only photogr apher on
the Subcont inent with a feeling of the
land-he r cultures and the way-of-life,"
says \\!asef. "The way he places the various
element s in his compos itions reflects
the fact that we have so many different
commun ities living within the same space,
like rickshaw drivers on the same road, and
yet, there is alw::~ys a sense of harmony.''
This is an inrere.sting perspect ive to keep
in mind while looking at the work of \\'asef
and that of Sucheta Das, from Kolkat;:l,
tradilionally one of the most liberal cities in
India. In 2006, Das became the first female Sucheta Oas (India), from 'Arsenic '- A Daily Dose of Death.
photogra phers from India to win the \\!PP of them treat me so badly that at times
it that won her the \\1PP award comes from
hut the news hardly made it to the front felt as though it is my fault to
be a female Arsenic-ADai~)'Doseq/Deatb. Shown in
page of the national p;:lpers. photogra pher,·· said Das. Once, when its entirety at Delhi ancl CIJobi
1l1e/a /\·.the

,'1
she tried to get on a special tnlin to feny series deals with arsenic poisonin
n India, it is unim;:1ginable even journalists to the inaugura tion of a new Bengal. g in \Vest
While the winning photogra ph is
for the largest newsp;:l per to train, some of the male photogra phers a
fairly straightforward dose-up of a man
dedicate SJXlce to write about told her to get ofL They said that she was drinking
J-i·om a contamin ated source. the
photogra phy like many of the just taking the train to have run and not images
that make up the photogra phic
Banghlde.'ihi papers do---simply for serious work. Similar incidents have essay
tell us a great de;:il about Das herself:
put, there i.'i no actiVISm or moveme nt lwppene d to her on various occasion
s. her desire to tell the story, her sensitivity to
in terms of photogra phy in Indi;:l," says Thankfully, she has a very supponiv e the victims and, more important, her
Suvendu Chatterjee, director of Drik's office t~tther, who has been a source ability
of inspiration not to be sentimental in her work.
in Kolkata. ·'In Banglad esh, any image over the years. "As he is also ;:m amateur
According to Das, as early as 1984,
publishe d has to be accompa nied by a photogra pher, I have had the opportun
ity, a Dr. Saha from the North 24 Parganas
photo-by line whereas in India. there is no since young, to come in touch with cameras
district h;Jd already identifie d cases or
such thing as copyright. In this aspect, we and photogra phic prints within my
house. arsenic poisonin g. Not surprisin gly, his
Jag behind Bangladesh.'' It has always been my ambition to he a warnings went unheede d. "One
This is the photographic environment photojournalist, ·· she says. clay, when
I visit an ;:trsenic-afrected village, I saw a
that Das has to contend with. As a woman, After completi ng her B.Sc degree at lady crying out in pain as her right leg
it is not the common ers and celebritie s University of Calcutta, she studied was
at the heing amputated. I was speechle ss and that
who enter her viewfind er that become Photographic Association of Dum Dum
and was when I decided to do the project," says
a source of her problems . It is the male became a freelance photogra pher in
1998. Das. 'Tocby, more than 1.5 million people
photogra phers who are the ones marking She has been working for the Associate
d in \\'e.'it Bengal drink ar.'icnic-pollured water
territories ;:mcl drawing boundari es. "i'viost Press since February 2006. The
image every day." The irony is, there is an old
Bengali saying that goes, "Another name
for water i.s life ... But water is now the slow
killer in West Bengal, as arsenic patients
have been known to survive in pain for up
to 20 years "As alway.s it is the poor who
are most affected by the pollution. Due to
a Jack of ;:lwareness. many of them think
that the skin deformat ion they suffer clue
to arsenic poisonin g is nothing more tlwn
a skin disease."
Supporte d by the Nalional Media
Fellowsh ip, her original motivation was
to highligh t the issue to the Indian
governm ent. Hopeful ly, by winning
the WPP, her clel'ermination to get the
governm ent to ~Jclclress the issue will be
reciprocated. IJ.

Zlwcmg Wubin is a pbotof;r apber and

arts u•riter basf!d in Singapore. I-Je Il'rites
regular~)' on Asian pbotogr apbyjbr Ash1n
Sucheta Das (India), from 'Arsenic' -- A Daily Dose of Death.
Art News.

MARCH/APRIL 2007
ASIAN ART NEWS 51
 S h oo ti n g With The H ea rt
s Photography Program with
In 2006, Saiful Huq , 28, became an awardee of the All Road
in Bangladesh from 1989 -
his first ma;or work, Heroes Neve r Die: Tal es of Political Violence
s recognizes and supports
2006 (200 5-20 06). An initiative by National Geographic, All Road
who are documenting their
indigenous and minority-culture storytellers from around the world
having his work shown in
changing culture and community through photography. Apart from
rk with prosp ective clients and
various venues in America, Huq has had the opportunity to netwo
All Roads Photography Program
international editors. The Banglades hi photographer felt that the
photography produced in
would go some way in addressing the fact that thus far, most of the
ing to Zhua ng Wubin during
the ma;ority world has been shot by white photographers. Speak
Chobi Mela IV, where his series was also featured, Huq
talked about his role as a photo activist
about the escalation of political
and his difficulty in remaining impartial while working on his story
violence in Bangladesh.

hold of a cop y of Counte r fo to, an ann ual no credibi lity left. Howev er, 1 soon rea lized
Zhuan g Wubin : Heroe s Never Die: Tales that the scope of the story wou ld be too
of Politic al Violen ce in Bangl adesh magazi ne that I pub lish. They liked the
critical man ner in w hich r looked at images. big for me to handle on my own. \XIhen
from 1989-2 006 was create d with the another bomb went off in August that yea r,
help of Actiotl Aid. You were initiaU y T hat's how they got in touch . But I d idn't
reply for anothe r one-and-a-hal f months. ActionA id ca lled me again and I knew 1 had
reluct ant to work with the NGO. How to act. Even so, I told them I didn't want to
was the worki ng relatiot~ship when At that time, J was also explori ng the story
on my own. As an activist, if I didn't do make it a hard news story. I felt we should
you decide d to accept their help? broaden the perspective and look at these
anything about the violence, I would have
victims in terms of
Saifu l Huq: how they su rvived
ActionA id backed the violence. This
me up very well. is the way I Like to
r d id the project work- to go w hen
on film and they there are no more
all owe d m e t o p h o t og r a ph e rs.
shoot as much as That's w hen you'll
I wanted. I could find the stories.
also go anywhere, Befo r e I
as many times as I decided to wor k
needed . And they o n the p roject, l
sponsored a book had spent several
for the project. As months pondering
a p h otogra pher, my li fe. I com e
I was o r ig in all y from a m i dd le-
un c o m fortab l e class fami ly and
ab o u t t h e i dea I'm tra ined as an
of workin g with engine er. \XIhe n
GOs. Someti me I comple ted m y
in J u l y 2005 , Masters d egree at
ActionA id gave me the end of 2004,
a call and wanted I jo ined Dri k not
to work w ith me of Politica l Violence in Ba nglade sh from as a f ul l - t im e
Saiful Huq (Bangladesh), from H ero es N ev e r Die: Tales
for th e projec t . to cross this river." says Rajib. Rajib becomes very
1989-2 006, 2005-2006. "When I had both of my legs I used p h o t og r a ph e r
alone. In his own world he is alone and he loves to
So m eh ow , t h ey sad as he takes a walk beside River Brahmaputra. He walks bu t a p ~lrt -t im e
remain so. He goes further and furtheraway from all of us.
m ana ged ro get
MARCH/ APRIL 2007
52 ASIAN ART NEWS
 researcher. At that time, I knew I would
most probably receive a scho larship fro m
an Am erican universit y to do my Ph.D.
Moreove r, T was not roo confiden t about
my ability to be a photogra pher. Would I
be good eno ugh' Would I be able to earn
a living? l was confused . I approach ed Dr.
Ala m and he sa id that life is mo re than
doing a Ph.D. He had also given up h is
teaching post at London Universit y befo re
taking up photogra phy in 1980. If he could
do it, w hy can't I?
As expected , the scho larship offer
came in mid-2005 and I turned it clown .
And then I started shooting Lhe story. On
March 2006, Dr. Alam nominate d me fo r
the All Roads Photogra phy Program. By
then, l had onl y completed 55 percent of
the project and the program selected me
based o n that submissi on .

Wby do you call yout·se lf a photo

activist?
Saiful Huq (Bangladesh), from Heroes Never Die : Tales of Political
Viole nce in Banglade sh from
1989- 2006, 2005-2006 . Shahin, a projectionist of a cinema hall named Ajanta,
\X' hen I was at the Universit y of Dhaka, 1 is the victim of a series of
bomb attacks targeting cultural activities in Bangladesh. After the attack,
Shahin lost his legs and his job- he
was already a member of the Commu nist no longer met the minimum height requirement to be a projectionist.
Parry. Howeve r, I was also looking for you pursue the
project withoutfurther I'm no t sure if my images w ill
somethin g in li fe that wouldn't deal w ith jeopm·d izing tbeir
safety? c hange t he si tu ati o n i n Ban g l adesh.
p o litics directly. so meth ing t hat went
But they have definitel y changed me. I
beyond ri o ting an d pro testing on the I staned the story with a certain perceptio n, shou ld be g rateful to these 11 famj lies. I n
streets. There are man y photographers that I wou ld be
meeting people who had consider ation of their safety, I have picked
w ho just want to have a great body of lost their dreams
due to rhe violence . They victims w ho arc already "famous," that their
work , which is fine. As an artist, I'm mo re should behave
in a certain manner and sto ries have already been well reported in
intereste d to use photogra phy to bring wou ld share a similar
o utlook. I was very the papers. This is my strategy. I also told
about small changes w ithin ou r society. Do w rong. One ofthe victims had a w heelchair them right at the start that d1ey wou ldn't
I still believe in Commun ism? Previously, I that w as spoilt . .Instinctiv ely, 1 told h im it be gerring anything. I had to clear thi s w ith
wou ld have said yes. wasn 't a problem. I could help him fix it. It them. ActionAi d wou ld publish a book but
wou ldn't cost more th<m Tk500. He looked it is no t for sale. Instead the books have
Yout· project dea.ls with survivo rs back at me-[ wasn't sure
if he was angry been sent to all the libraries in Bangladesh
of state viole11c e. What was your o r disappoi med-an d said:
'·H ow can you as a sou rce of research.
experie1 1ce with the victims? How did p ity me?"'
For the nex t phase o f Lhe project, l
w ill look at the v ictims from 1972 to 1988.
After two years, I will bring o ut another
book that w ill comain images from both
phases. ActionAi d may not support the
second phase bur I'm now more capable
of managin g my money.

Your appt·oa ch to this project bas been

persona l and emotio11al. Do you agt·ee
tbat tbese are not necessa rily traits of
good jou.rnal ism?

Yes, this is a very personal project. These

are my own people, my brothers. Is there
any bloody way to remain objective? I'm
nor sure about that. Photogra phers sho uld
deal \vith issues objective ly bur I'm not
sure if this is the law. This is an issue that
touches eve ryo ne in Banglad esh. They
speak Bengali. So do l. If l cover the sa me
sto•y in another part of the world, maybe
I wi ll be less emotional. Being emotiona l,
Saiful Huq (Bangladesh), from Heroes N ev er Die : Tales of Politica I think , is precisel y the strength of this
l Viole nce in Ba ngla d e s h
f rom 1989- 2006, 2005- 2006. Since the BNP-Islamic Party coalition
has come to power, there have been project. Many photographers have sa id that
thousands of cases of minority oppression in Bangladesh. After Rhadharan I have taken the images not with my eyes
i was gang raped by a few Muslim
strongmen in her village, the rapists spooned out both her eyes so that she
could never testify in court. but w ith my heart. /';,
MARCH/APRIL 2007
ASIAN ART NEWS 53