Anwar Hossain's fascinating photographs

War & Peace

Over the last 30 years he has presented a gold mine of experiences through expressive visuals. His art, with its subtle sensitivity and technical finesse are a gift to Bangladesh. As a team man he is superb and we have made 10 films together -- four feature films and six documentaries. We don't even have to speak to each other, we have to merely look at each other and we understand what is on each other's mind while shooting. I've been lucky to have had Anwar as my colleague."

Mostafa Manwar says about Anwar, "The artist's images are his own creation, the exquisite elegance of which results from a unique blending of nature, culture and the heritage of Bangladesh." Pierre Claquin says, "The series of photographs highlight the similarities and differences between Bangladesh and France.”

Another well-known photographer Enamul Huq says, "We've seen many of Anwar's exhibitions but this is very special. This focuses on his children and other children from Bangladesh. This is his most personal and intimate exhibition. This is about him and his love affair with the world. Anwar was always photographing people but these subjects are closest to his heart."

Rana Haider adds, "We know Anwar Hossain as a creative person. My husband and I were posted in Iran and Anwar's exhibition was being held there along with that of Enamul Huq. The juxtaposition of his photographs from France with those of Bangladesh with the focus on his two children are meaningful, humorous, poignant and dramatic."

Anwar himself says, "This time it is an extension of my previous shows. It is as if I'm following a rainfall, with its beginning and its ending in pitter patter. People knew me for my work in the '70s. Since then, lifestyle, equipment, philosophy, cinema and photography have changed. Now I try to show an image in a more modern way, without becoming western. This exhibition is a juxtaposition of the East and West. I've spent 10 years in France and had two children there. It is natural that its influence will be there. Look at the life in Dhaka. It too has changed enormously in the last decade. I'm searching for the inside of my soul, influenced by my children's love and everything that surrounds me. I'm trying to find a merging point of two different cultures."

Anwar Hossain has been a photographer since 1967 and a cinematographer since 1977. He won 60 international awards in photography. He has been an associate of RPS, UK since 1989: and of FIAP, Belgium, and IIPC, Delhi since 1991.