August 11, 2009

Bangladesh x Bangladesh

The above is the title of the cover of the recent edition of 100 Eyes Magazine, an online photography magazine edited by Andy Levin.

Levin, a professional photographer living in New Orleans, Louisiana writes:
This issue of 100eyes shows a country as seen through the eyes of its own photographers.

There is nothing remarkable about that, except in this case the country is one of the poorest nations in the world, known for being a subject for photojournalism rather than as a provider of photojournalists. Photographers flew into Bangadesh from New York, Paris, or London, that is, when they weren’t headed for nearby India. Photographers will still be flying to Bangladesh, including myself hopefully, but we
won’t be alone. In 1989 Bangladesh was depicted for Western eyes in a famous essay by photographer Sebastio Salgado that presented the shipbreaking yards at Chittagong. Twenty years later Bangladeshis are now behind the camera, and the results are stunning.

As economically challenged as Bangladesh may be, there are 200 newspapers in the small country, and many of them are staffed by students from Pathshala, a school founded by Shahidul Alam, the central figure in the emergence of photography in Bangladesh, and the author of the cover image of this issue of 100Eyes.
Amazing pictures...You can turn the page with the mouse in book style.. a must see.

0 comments:

Post a Comment