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Exhibitio

Focusing on foreigners: reality and reflections

Photography exhibition of young enthusiasts at Goethe Institut

Fayza Haq
THE works of 15 young photographers, who had attended the workshop called "Foreigners in Bangladesh", run by the renowned German photographer Andreas Herzau, during "Chhobi Mela-11", were to be recently seen at the Goethe Institut gallery. There one found fresh angles on the subject of foreigners living in Dhaka. Many of them were in black and white to being in drama and the nouveau fascination for that genre but many were coloured entries too. The students had felt that they had learnt a lot about how to treat a subject and when to click the button to pan on the subject in order to bring in a fresh angle. They said that they gathered a lot of information about composition and presentation. The picture framing had been done carefully and the exhibition had a neat layout.
Talking to some of the students one felt that here were promising photographers who can do something admirable in the future despite their limited experience, having learnt intensively during their five-day exposure to foreign know-how. Dr Majid had brought in a foreigner in one of his photos, where the subject was wearing dark glasses and was holding on to a mobile and car keys, appearing to be in a rush to get somewhere, to do something, or meet someone. About his series simply labelled "Foreigners", Dr Majid said, "You can easily comprehend that he is an outsider by his skin tone and I decided to bring in half of his face and a part of the hand. In the next one you see a necklace of silver filigree balls and an interesting rock with semi precious lines running through it set against the neck of a fair skinned lady. The wearer's multi-coloured blouse is somewhat opened and you see a portion of her neck and chest. Dr Majid felt that the subject took us as different because of her clothes and make-up and so felt that this was suitable for his theme. Next we saw the top of a Mercedes Benz car with its insignia and part of the hood. Taken at an angle one saw only an MB symbol and a part of the
car.
Murad's photo brought in some reflections of tennis balls seen vaguely along with impressions of some tall buildings. The images of the balls had intermingled with the buildings and so had created a fascinating image. In front were hazy moving objects. Moving on to his other work was a foreigner trying to shake hands with a local person. He had a slung bag, jeans and jacket and the focus was on the shaking of the hands. A bit of the road and pavement were also brought in. Next we saw Murad's lady, obviously also a foreigner, with bobbed hair and two rows of pearls on her white T-shirt partly embroidered with white, while the background was black. She was apparently talking rapidly and emotionally, as one could make out from the movement of the lips and cheeks. There was another picture belonging to the series that brought in a mannequin with tartly lips, flaming red hair and small, plastic decorations on her hair.
In one of Sumon's photo collections we saw a foreign shirt labelled "Pierre Cardin" displayed with an overtly loud tie bearing the uS flag
motif. In the background and at the side were packets of other imported shirts seen at a shop. Moving on, we saw asking which could have been taken from a shop and presented a top hat and walking stick of a playboy in white and red with two more rectangles in red around it.
At Abu Al Mahmudul Hassan's collection we saw a T-shirt with hanging beads, and a close fitting choker with red, black and white beads. As no one else would normally wear such clothes this shot too was that of an outsider. In his next photo one saw a Nepalese lampshade. Bearing Bhutanese motifs of the Buddha, with a "teep" on top, a curl in the middle and slanted eyes in black and red against a beige background. More such motifs decorated the hanging lampshade which was surrounded by darker shades. In the series "Touch of Home" we again see the eyes of Buddha, which one finds so often in Nepal and Bhutan, on a red cap with embroidery in shades of green.
In the panel by Farzana Khan we saw the back of an aging foreign lady flaunting gray and white pearls held by a plastic thread, seen sitting
and gazing at her laptop. The picture is taken from the back. In the next exhibit in the series we see the same lady reading an English newspaper. She was seen wearing glasses, while her white hair was bobbed. The focus was both on the reader and the newspaper, the latter occupying a large portion of the photo area. We moved on to see the same lady holding her hand against the window of a cab. Beyond the image could be seen a rickshawpuller and a beggar in brown clothes. This composition had a lot of silhouette work. The next shot was of the same lady looking at a vermilion, black and gold shawl at a shawl shop with heaps of shawls and a local woman standing at the back. One saw the same lady in the panel, and what the photo captured was the reflection of the lady in the mirror opposite her as she was sitting against a cane chair, perhaps at a rest house or restaurant. The books that she had been reading was somehow reflected on top. Thus we got a mind-boggling image of reality and reflections. A silhouette work in black brought in the same subject yet again and there was a lot of black with the beige
checked curtains forming a relief.
Going on to ushakar Khishar's works presented a lady taking a stroll by Gulshan market, perhaps hoping to buy something herself or just passing by. Dressed up in green and beige "shalwar-kameez-dupatta", she was obviously a foreigner, going by her hair and skin tones and her long steady strides. She had some male buyers and apparently working women in shawls and traditional "shalwar-kameezes" and "chadors" behind her. At the back, brought in a haze were the speeding cars, building and electrical poles.
Moving over to Rajib Shome's work we see a foreign artist painting the legs of a figure on canvas. The focus is on the hands and the paint brush, while part of the canvas was brought in with shades of black and gray. One can see even the hair on the hands and the silver ring of the artist. On his next photo we saw a man standing and examining some object, which is not quite clear. He was framed by the wall which bore some decorations and a wall. A curtain too adds to the dark rectangle that enveloped the figure. Despite the haze one could detect
some paintings on the walls and what appeared to be photos beyond. In the next photo were the slippers of the artist on a mosaic floor, and along with that was the movement caught in action.
The picture, by the same photographer that followed, brought a foreigner seen from the back of a rickshaw with its frames of russet circular motifs. The man, in his gray shirt, was framed in a rectangle and in the background were tress, more rickshaws and the angular section of the sky. In another such picture was a foreign artist in striped clothes and shorts. He was seen relaxing with a friend, with a cushion between them and the images were seen through parted curtains. The details had been brought in and made to appear as if included casually. In another frame, connected with the theme of the visiting artist, we saw a Bhutanese mask in red, beige and brown. In the darkness could be spotted a comfortable chair and paintings of Ganesh and other deities. Part of the photo was lit up somewhat while the rest of it was in mysterious darkness.
The section called "Fast food" by Mahboobur Rahman brought in a
man reading a magazine, while sitting and eating a quick meal at "Wimpy's". A burger, chips and a glass of Coca-cola were near at hand. In the next picture, as we moved on, we saw the silhouette of a man walking with a lot of other people sitting on cane chairs, waiting for their turn. Next to the people was the signboard of the shop with a funny round figure with a round face and nose to match the hilarious representation of a gourmand. As we moved on we saw a man in a suit, seen consuming the normal fast food that Dhaka has to offer. All the pictures by Rahman were in black and white and brought in the minimum amount of subjects in the frame.
The photographs by the young "shutterbuggers" were indeed commendable for their compositions and their unusual compositions. They had learnt quickly and they had toiled much. The exposition was a remarkable one for the set up and content matter. Let's hope that the scope of photography in Dhaka will improve by leaps and bounds by just this brief but intensive workshop that had been held by Herzau.