How did I find myself in Bangladesh in 1989 in a country very little known to the outside world except for the image of extreme poverty, flood and tidal wave devastation? My partner, Phil had accepted a job to work in international development aid work for three years and in our early 30’s we saw this as an opportunity for ADVENTURE, a life changing experience and more importantly I think we we went out of CURIOSITY. Excited by the UNKNOWN whilst many family and friends were scratching their heads about WHY we would want to go there to work some of them made quite disparaging remarks about how CRAZY we were. Despite this and like young, wide eyed ADVENTURERS we ignored them and were in a completely different view and headspace of WHY NOT?
Looking out from up in the air just minutes before landing in Dhaka Airport we both looked and felt a bit concerned anxiously searching for where the plane runway was. “I think its flooding already!” says Phil. “What do you mean?” I said. “Well all the houses and land is UNDER WATER and I haven’t done a Flood Action Plan yet (even though I don’t know how to do one!). That’s supposed to be my first important task “ he said. “WHAT?” I replied as we slowly glided on a small dry grey tarmac which magically appeared from nowhere and out of the white fluffy clouds. There was a strong of RELIEF- phew!
When we decided to go to Bangladesh and making ther commitment to go there together for a three year contract we were in our early days of our relationship. After meeting in Australia briefly whilst we were casual teaching I followed Phil to Peru after knowing him only a few months and we spent eight months prior to the Bangladesh stint starting our new relationship living in house with street children in Cusco, Peru. It was obvious we had a strong connection but I know I had no idea where it was going to lead. I just knew in my gut that I had a strong sense that I needed to explore love and this relationship and had met a kindred soul that was driven by `following a path less travelled’ and not scared or had fear to pursue the UNKNOWN.
As I was going to Bangladesh to accompany Phil I really did not have a sense of what I was going to do there for three years. Prior to going I had a brainstorm that with my arts background that I should seek our some fair trade craft producer outlets in Sydney to explore what craft producers they had in Bangladesh and how I could offer my volunteer asssistance to bridge and connect with their community partners. With introductory letters from these organisation I was keen and determined to find my pathway and purpose through these kind of avenues.
However, one day after being in Dhaka for about a month I didn’t realise that a knock on a door would change my life and I was never going to see the world again the same way!
I knocked on the door of a stranger. Only led there by a black and white postcard and on the back marked ‘Drik Picture Library’ and an address in a suburb in Dhaka, which I had found in the local fair trade gift shop in town. What was ‘Drik’ ? This is the story of that journey…
A spritely, dark thick, bearded Bangladeshi man in his late 30’s opened the door and introduced himself as Dr. Shahidul Alam. He was well spoken with a thick English accent and amused by my appearance at his father’s house. I quietly explained that I was looking for ‘Drik Picture Library’ but was quickly scanning the room only to see from the door that it was a private house with no sign of a ‘business’. “Oh” he said chuckling to himself. “Yes, well its an idea that I have had for a number of years”. It was like his vision board of the future. A few months later we physically manifested the business by turning his personal bedroom with all his sports equipment tucked under his bed into a work office and business and I found myself as the first foreign Photo Librarian in Dhaka working with small photographic team of local talented Bangladeshis.I first learnt to use a metal typewriter and carbon paper and graduated to using my first form of a computer in Bangladesh.
Immersed in an ambitious vision and an incredible charming polymath — a chemist with a PhD (useful when you run out of photographic chemicals from Bangkok and have to go to the local market to improvise!), political activist, writer, corporate photographer, and an award winning social documentary photographer with such incredible energy, stamina and creative intelligence that blew my mind. We worked tirelessly together for three years to establish the first photographic service, photo agency and photo library to place Drik on the world stage to change the face and perception of Bangladesh as a country of CREATIVITY, COURAGE and RESILIENCE.
Changing and challenging the perceptions and assumptions that countries outside of Bangladesh had of a country that is often depicted as needy, desperate, scarcity and impoverished we have never seen the multifaceted and diverse views of this country . We do not often see the richness, resilience and courage of Bangladeshi people and the country constantly challenged by adversity of natural disasters and economic inequity and their resourcefulness to sustain and recover from such circumstances. Whilst there is a complex political, cultural and social history that has shaped the people and contemporary culture and face of Bangladesh today we were lucky to meet and work with so many inspiring individual and communities.
All I know that I was given a `priviliged’ and intimate insight and life changing experience that shifted my world forever through the power of photography. Not only through working with local photographers through their `lens’ of the world but with international photographers from major magazines sent in to cover the natural disasters, shoot their photos and leave.
With an important mission to provide professional photographic opportunities with these international photographers we insisted that local photographers go on assignment with them or provide a professional talk to local photographers. Whilst the profile of Drik was slow at the beginning and there were many foreign clients overseas we tried to pursue as for commissions and to use our phgotographic services we were either ignored or people in disbelief that we were something ‘real’ with high quality photographs could exist in Dhaka. That’s why in our company blurb we called ourselves the Magnum Photos of the `Third World’ which Shahidul Alam has coined instead ‘ The Majority World’.This only changed when out of frustration and strong belief in what he created can only be addressed by getting on a plane to potential clients in the UK, knocking on doors and coming back to Bangladesh with international commissions for photos and stories with top publications. He challenged the notion of the domination of foreign writers editors and photographers not giving the real space, views , perspectives and VOICE by Bangladeshis and their lived experiences with an abundance of rich ideas, stories and photos.
It was also a major shift for local photographers who often were in photographic societies to train them from the ‘nice’ and ‘beautifully’ aesthic photos of nature , landscape and flowers to nurture them to be a social witness and photo documenter of their own country to represent the hard reality , complex, fragmented and politically and socially disruptive country they lived in . Shahidul was always a pioneer, fearless leader and role model and relentless even in the earlier years of never shying away from witnessing and documenting some of the highly sensitive political and social topics of devastating genocide, minority groups, marginalised people and the inequities of social, class , race and wealth in the country and the divide between the rural and urban communities.
That inner courage of strength and resilence was mesmersing to witness personally.
Shahidul’s persistence to mount exhibitions in universities and public spaces and his award winning social documentary photography has always challenged the social norms and the political complexity and sometimes corrupt governments of the day.
My experience understanding what is resilience ….is a prime example of the strength of the human spirit, always pushes boundaries and steps out of his comfort zone. A living example of a human’s exploration of our DNA of creativity, courage and resilience and to draw from his inner resources to navigate his life especially in the last recent years. This can only be aptly demonstrated by his own personal and political stance which had him arrested and put in gaol by the Bangladeshi Government in and his need to seek truth and justice.
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