Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 809 Mon. September 04, 2006  
   
Culture


Photography Exhibition
Beauty in simple things of life


Bakin Rabbi, whose exhibition of photography was recently held in Gallery Zoom, at Alliance Francaise, learnt his skill from his father, who was the editor of the weekly Amod at Comilla. When his father went for reporting, Bakin tagged along and tried his hand at photography. He did a course in photography from Lille, France and at the Bangladesh Press Institute. He enjoys working in particular on nature and toiling people. He is inspired by Rashid Talukdar, AKM Mohsin and Powell Rahman.

Bakin regards photography as an expensive medium, especially the developing of the films. He uses both the digital and optical camera. He washes the black and white pictures himself but gets the coloured done professionally. "Nowadays coloured pictures are in demand and I prefer the coloured ones," he says. He adds that there is a shortage of labs for the processing of the films. He earns his livelihood by working for Amod.

In Friendship we see a child playing with a pigeon, with a large pigeon resting on his head. All around are trees. The photo has been taken in Comilla and the cute little child is the photographer's son. The red stripes of the child's T-shirt stand out against the grays and browns of the backdrop. This is a happy image of a relationship between human beings and birds. Valentine's day brings in two crows sitting close to one another, on top of a truck, and rubbing their bills in admirable companionship.

Another picture depicts women breaking and collecting stones in Jaflong. The woman in front has her sari hitched up and she is toiling with her spade. In the backdrop one can see hills and boats in a hazy composition. A Rangamati woman is seen in the next photo and she is seen busily weaving with threads. At the back are a pile of finished products lined up in a neat row. In Ambulance we see a sick cow being carried for treatment by a young man in a cart. Look at us shows two little girls peeping through a broken slit on the walls of a mud hut. The happy girls are smiling widely despite their poverty.

Beauty sleep shows a tired rickshaw-puller who is resting. This picture is taken in Kolkata. The playing of danguli, a game of sticks, is brought in Childhood. A woman rickshaw-puller called Rokeya is shown in another picture and this too is a simple but moving photograph. A picture from Cox's Bazaar shows a chair with a sunshade on the sand with a crow resting on top. The holiday makers on the sea beach have also been included in the focus. The only coloured item in the picture is the umbrella.

An old woman, washing grass to feed her cow is shown in the next picture. Acrobats brings in three urchins balancing themselves on a cycle. In the background are trees that appear to be whizzing by.

Bakin's pictures, though simple, stir up the mind, and make one realise the beauty around us in everyday life.

Picture
A weaver at work