An aura of romance around the ordinary

A young girl feeding an old ailing man with a cup of tea. PHOTO: Chandan

One of Chandan's photos show women veiled in burqas and draped in shawl. Even though two of the three faces are not clear enough, one feels the presence of the women with intensity. Chandan's next focus is on a pair of playing tops wheeling on two children's palms: the motion of the toys with the sharp supporting nails is keenly felt. A young girl feeding an old ailing man with a cup of tea, a family of brick gatherers smiling and playing despite their abject poverty and other images of life become the subjects of Chandan's photos.

The beauty of a Hill Tracts woman with her heavy jewelry of stringed, beaded necklace and looped earrings, unusual ornate hairdo seen against the backdrop of modern life in Mahmud's photo is eye-catching indeed. The contrast of the light and shadow makes the picture unusually dramatic. Children of the Hills smoking in gleeful revelry among the woods depicts bliss and harmony between man and nature. More such scenes are seen in the other pictures showing a woman sporting a large blossom on her topknot, beads and protruding bone spikes for the ears, teenagers in turbans and slacks, all three looking content with life among the trees and the hills. A girl with a turban and decorating hibiscus flowers present another delightful delineation of simple, uncomplicated life in the Hills. A mother playing with her child in the shallow waters along the leafy riverside are more such portraits of the pristine life.

Kiron too brings in the lure of nature seen in the backdrop along with man and animals in one of his photographs. Two tree-trunks form an arc to frame a lone man and his bullock. In the distance can be seen another bullock cart along the horizon and a bicycle resting against a sloping tree trunk. A twisted tree branch forming a semi-circular swing for village children is seen in another picture projecting the boundless glee of young children with merging shades of gray of the foliage and trees in the backdrop. Another image brought a sparsely clad female child staring at a gliding bird taking wings towards some outspread branches of trees. A tribal woman happily blows a horn in another photo. A boy leaping into the river below a metal bridge, with his playmates still clinging on to the metal bars of the bridge with the metal bars standing out like giants against the pale bars make a dramatic composition.

Bullocks, carts and a young woman carrying a heavy vessel are focussed in Khaled's lens, but he does not leave out the details of the background with dirts, mud and grime. A boatman perched at one end of his boat, with a parallel image of a boy flying a kite in the distance brought in the sun-washed, fresh village environment. A row of boys grinning and playing with a tape cassette once again brings forth the innocent harmony of the countryside.

A woman bathing in the river, with her vessel on the bank, with silver dappled waves outlining the woman's silhouette by Sujan is a beautiful, simple image. A strip of the dark foreground forms a contrast to the pale, silvery depiction of water in the rest of the photo. Sujan's other photo shows a boat with a thatched top being carried on a rickshaw, being pulled and pushed by two men. The rocks in front, with waves dashing on them, also look like some sail boats and edges of boats. Thus human labour of fishing folks is romanticised. A boy drawing a pony into the water for bathing, with both the child and the animal in black against the pale gray of the river is a portrayal of a child immersed in his task.

Map actively advocates social awareness campaigns through its visual projects in rural and urban areas in Bangladesh.