Of realism and romance

Sharif Sarwar¿s photograph shows workers at the end of the day

The focus was not only on tragic reality, but also the serene and tranquil scenario, which one finds from Dhaka to far-flung districts in the north of Bangladesh. The scintillating photographs stressed more on peace and harmony around us, rather than the rampant ugliness that mars our socio-political scenario. Most of the colours in the photographs ranged from bright vermilion to Prussian blue, yellow-ochre to jade-green. Streaks of opalescent white formed gentle contrasts. There were more messages of peace than war. This was photography with a purpose: a display by professionals, doing their level best, at the present juncture.

Zia Islam, the group's spokesperson said," We haven't worked further on our next artistic project for a while, but hope to bring out something even more positive in our next endeavour." He added that the group had included the freedom fighter Md Alam, a freedom fighter and photojournalist, as their chief guest to reveal the importance of photojournalists-- who are often brushed aside in places such as Dhaka.

Zia said that the group members were not complacent but yearned to do better in future. However, the sea of viewers and their praises gave them hope and aspiration, he added. There were 60 photographs, with 10 pictures from each member. Feroze, had dwelt on the ethnic scenes and portraits from northern Bangladesh. The old lady with a pipe appeared to be wreathed in smiles and coolly smoked a pipe. The other bedecked old lady smoked a cigarette and appeared to have the same laid back attitude. The pictures of a baby iguana and a woman taking home two calves, spoke of the photographers' maturity, skill and vision in skill and vision.

The other photojournalists, in their entries, had included more turbulent scenes, such as the after effects of bombing in Dhaka and pictures of child-labour. They had included differently-abled children too, but the faces of the children had been happy in most of the photographs. There are also angst-ridden images of a young bomb blast victim. Yet, the final message of the exhibit was that of serenity and hope.