Students display their talent

Monitur Rahman's portrait (left) & Khurshid's use of the golden rule of thirds (right)

One of the students, Monitur Rehman, in his photo, shows a man sitting contentedly on the steps, on the side of pond, with some women at the back, rising from their daily bath in the water. "I wanted to present the light and shade effect at the back of the man and in front of the women. The triangle that is made by the figures is a 'catch eye'. The focus on the essentials like the toothbrush and soap also proves interesting for the viewer," Monitur says.

His second photo brings a young village girl playing and smiling, facing the camera. She is young but her eyes and mouth have a photogenic appeal. The light falls on her face and a yellow sari waving in the wind at the back.

Monitur's third picture gives a glimpse of the audience of a football game plus a portrait of a young woman reflected in the mirror of a microbus. Thus there is the contrast of the urchins and the sophisticated woman. Monitur, who is a banker, was keen on photography since his childhood. He has, so far, done six months of the Alliance Francaise course under his teacher Mujibur Rahman. "In my class I've learnt that there should be a moving meaning behind each photograph."

Rohul has experimented with the "false colour" technique. The picture has been developed in C41. The picture of the boats, seen in the sunset in Buriganga, is in red and green instead of the real colours and the tones stand for the red and green colours of the national flag. The effect is unreal on purpose. Another picture captures motion and we see a man walking past a window, with the effect of the moving man being a blurred one.

Safi's feature picture presents a man playing with his grandchild, who climbs on his back, sticks out his tongue and waves his toy motorcar. Another photograph depicts a young man at work with the focus on his gamcha (towel). Yet another picture incorporates the "rule of thirds" to highlight a game of a top where the toy was placed on a palm of the hand. The angle is unusually eye-catching, placing the main object at the key-point.

A portrait in graffiti being seen face to face with an actual person creates another interesting composition, done by Mujib. "Ami dealey dealey lekhi koto kotha" is the quotation that goes with the picture. Shahbazi's portrait brings in a myriad of colours in a beggar's cloak. The beads and pole add more colours to the composition. This is an example of using strident colours. Surrealism in photography has been brought in a woman's portrait that appears like some painting. There are sections of black and white stripes, with the lips being bright red.

Mujibur Rahman, the teacher, says in conclusion, "The creative part of photography is seeing a subject and translating it in a personal manner, taking full advantage of the technical possibilities."