PLANNING to collect funds for acid victims, to hand over the proceeds to "Prothom Alo," NSU Photography Club held an exhibition of an inter university photography competition at "Drik," which has, for quite some time, been catering to the needs of the young and unexposed. There were 96 entries from seven universities which Included North South University, IUBT, BUET, Dhaka University, Shahjalal University, BRAC University, Radgars University (USA) and AIT (Thailand). This was the third exhibit by the club.

The first prize in "Life and People" went to "Nor Sundar" by Tarik of NSU and the picture presented a man having his hair cut in an open barber's saloon, with the reflection on the mirror. Standing out against the grimy wall of beige, white and gray wall were the simple barber's equipment on the table, such as a lotion, a brush, sticks and powder boxes. The picture itself was focused on the barber's hands and the back of the customer's head. Faisal ( NSU)'s "Hands of life" won the second prize in the same category and in it we could see two smoking aluminium kettles with ropes tied on the handles, seen most probably in a roadside tea stall. The kettles in shades of gray and white stood out against the black backdrop. Included were the hands of the man - with veins sticking out - operating the open cafe .Along with the hands only a part of his shirt cuff was visible.

"Somudro Cheel" by Zuhina of AIT won the Nature first prize and this brought in the birds with their brown wings, white bodies and pale beaks and legs were seen soaring over the sea water which had flecks of gray, beige and gold. The second prize in that category went to "Shikorer Shondhaney" by Samina from NSU. In that we saw a curling bent root of a tree which was seen with twigs and some green leaves as it lay in a ditch, where the earth had been captured in shades of russet and burnt sienna, while the gray cracks stood out as proof of the drying of nature.

In "Architecture" the first prize

went to "Itihasher bukey bosho bash" by Shuva of NSU. He we saw pillars, arches, delicate motifs in gray and black. A small portion of it had coloured tiles on it while surrounding leaves of bushes had been brought in. In between the sombre pillars were brightly coloured washing, which included a "Kantha" with its geometrical red and white motifs with an outstretched backdrop of a sari with its gray, green and russet design. The second prize in that category was won by Tinni Rahman (Ahsanullah University)'s "Birth right of architecture." This too was set in Sonargaon and we saw old arches and pillars, and the light had been thrown from the side so that there was darkness on the right and on the top. Only the white arches had been highlighted which were seen with their curls and twirls. The rooms beyond had also been brought into focus, as well as the stately pillars with theirfriezes on top.

"Rhythm in blue" by RezaAhmed (IUB) won the first prize for "Action." There we saw some crows flying whilefour of them were sitting on the bar of a street light, which was partly red and partly black. The pole on which the black birds sat were black while the collection of scavenging birds were seen against a rectangle portion of the pale blue gray sky. "Speed" by Tareq from NSU won the second prize in that group. There we saw a father and son in casual

"chappals" and T-shirts who were sitting in bucket chairs which had iron rods to make them swing. The background appeared to be whizzing by in streaks of gray, brown and bluish while the sated people had been clearly shown with tones of our local people with their bronzed visagesand limbs.

In "Portrait" Tariq Hadi's "Serenity" won the first prize. In the photo could be seen a boy with rounded, large, twinkling, dark eyes matched with a winning broad grin showing his teeth that had grown slightly brown at the edges. On his head was a load of corn with its sheaves falling over his face. The child appeared certainly pleased with life despite the toil with it involved, or perhaps he was just simply delighted at the prospect of being focused by a lens. "Nari" by Zuhina (AIT, Thailand) won the second prize in the group. This had depicted a woman in a red shaded over sari with a black border, standing and leaning against a doorway which was darkened on three sides. In front was a clear wall and strewn hay. Beyond the standing figure were fences of wickerwork, and mud walls of a hut with its thatched roof. This was idyllic indeed and portrayed a pause in the life of the constantly busy woman in the countryside. The play of light and shade in that picture was admirable indeed.

The first prize in "Still Life" went to "Shojibota" by Tina of NSU. There we saw some watermelons in shades of green and black, while one piece was slice and showed its pink and black centre. There was a spray of tiny yellow flowers with delicate tendrils seen against the piled fruit. It was black at the back and one side. The contrast of the red and black in the open watermelon of the centre piece of the pile of fruit was admirable. Mehdi Amin of BUET won the second prize in that category. This was called "Give me light, I want to see your creation" and was an abstract piece on which a bit of cardboard had been placed, curls of blue colour had been splashed on the cardboard in rectangular shapes, while streaks of golden light had been thrown from the back.

The "Landscape" first prize went to "Need?" by Faisal of NSU. In that we saw the silhouette of a brick factory. This brought in a factory building in black with the thrust out smoking chimney pouring out smoke. These were seen against a background of gold and gray. The second prize in that category went to "Faraway" by Ikhtiar Mohammed ofBRAC University. There we sawa collection of trees in front, with a grass covered area, scattered with dried fallen leaves. Beyond these was a gray path, on which one found the figure of a peddler with a baskets

hung from his shoulders. He had an embroidered shawl over him as he went about jauntily with his walk. Beyond him we saw large tree trunks and clumps of hedges, with a palm tree and almost a gray green wall of trees right at the back. The beauty of our parks had been brought with subtle colours and with an interesting angle.

In Rokenuddin Bhuyan from Ahsanullah University's portrait we saw a child grinning though an opening of a window of a mud hut. The whites of the child's eyes and teeth were literally glittering. The mud hut with its beige and gray tone formed a subtle frame for the merry child. Asia Pacific's Sheikh Arif Bulbul's "Ambiguous" brought in an old man with white beard and moustaches, probably selling some wares. The man with his "gamchha" and shirt sleeves pulled up was out of focus, while the background of the brightly painted wall with its bright red, black, blue and green motifs of fol k art was stressed on. I n "Moment of joy" by KM Muntasir from IUB we saw a massive fountain with its water jutting out in streaks red while at the back were more jets of water from fountains in yellow. These were encased in a background of black touched with beige, along with dots of lights in yellow and blue. This was dramatic though somewhat conventional.

Moving on to "Origin of beauty"

by Ishrat Jehan (Shahjalal University) showed a young woman tying her anklet, while there was a superb display of her shimmering bangles and the "zari" border of her sari. There was a single lit candle in front, while the background was dark and mysterious. In "Foundation of Democracy" by Reza A. Ahmed from IUB, had brought in the Parliament building, seen at night, which had been presented a section of the enormous building in such a manner that we saw geometrical forms taken from crevices of the building. The picture must have been taken from the staircase, and both the sky and the forefront were sheathed in pitch darkness.

In "Door of heaven" by Sazzad Husain (Shahjalal University) was taken in India. This had brought in an arch in a semi circular form and had been decorated with more arches on top. Beyond it were portions of pillars and walls, which had motifs at the end in gray and yellow. Both the inside and outside were darkened while the flash had been focused on the arch, which was in shades of beige, brown and gray. This was a laudable presentation in the architecture section and we saw more of such work in "Nisthobdho Gaurab" by Aporbo from NSU, which had also been taken in India. In that picture we came across a bronze lion with open mouth with its mane on display in