Battle for social justice through photography

World famous photographer Shahidul Alam expresses his views on resistance and furthering the social movement through the medium of photography



Colombo Art Biennale has taken the city by storm this week and while attending one of the ‘Art Talks’ sessions titled ‘Building Bridges – The South Asian Context’ held in the picturesque setting of Nuga Gama at the Cinnamon Grand yesterday, it was a pleasant surprise to find renowned photographer Shahidul Alam on the panel alongside CAB 2012 Co-Curator Suresh Jeyaram.

After an animated session about forging ties between South Asian countries through art, during which several impassioned members of the audience also added some thoughtful insights on the subject, the Daily FT caught up with Alam for a quick chat on his book ‘My Journey as a Witness,’ his reasons for taking up photography and some of the work being currently undertaken in Bangladesh.

Following are excerpts from the interview:

By Cassandra Mascarenhas

Q: Could you explain the symbolism behind the title ‘My Journey as a Witness’?

A: It’s not a photographic book, it’s much more a book about a movement within which I’m placed, so it is I as a person within this social movement which utilised photography, of course as a writer and a photographer that’s the medium that I use but the point of the exercise is that movement towards social justice which has utilised the powerful medium of photography towards that end.

Q: Could you tell me a bit more about the photographs and the subjects you’ve chosen to highlight in the book?

A: To a large extent the work is mostly about social justice. It spans a long time – the earliest photograph is from 1983 and the most recent is 2010 and it’s quite interesting as the early work is more pictorial, pretty pictures, whereas the very last work is an allegorical look at crossfire, which is extrajudicial killings. It’s a social statement and a resistance that is taking place through photography, one that has been crafted through a changing practice.

Q: What made you resort to the medium of photography to get your word across?

A: I’m a very social animal and a political one. The intent was to find a way to address social inequality. The reason I took up photography is because it’s such a powerful tool, because it works. Having decided to take on photography, it was also about creating a platform for other practitioners.

There were two issues involved: one was to create a platform for local practitioners because we recognised that most of the stories that were being told from Third World countries have mostly been said by white Western photographers on assignments and I felt that that was partly responsible for the very distorted and stereotypical depiction of our cultures.

So the first challenge was to create a platform through which others could begin to tell their own stories. So that is something that has continued along the way. Having done that, it was also a question of creating support structures. Initially it was the photo agency but then we set up a school, we set up the festival, the Bangladesh Human Rights network and now we set up something called the Rural Visual Journalism Network so there are journalists all across Bangladesh  who are beginning to send stories.

Even within Bangladesh where the capital, the centre that takes so much importance, is something that is being challenged so we are training people to do reporting using the iPod Touch. They are out there in the villages doing photography, videos using the iPod Touch, editing using the iPod Touch and sending their stories; small videos but stories which we previously never really heard.

Q: What made you decide on launching the book here, at the Colombo Art Biennale?

A: Opportunistic. I was invited for the Biennale and it made sense. The distributor didn’t get their act together in time and couldn’t send the books, so now I have longer arms and shorter legs because I carried all these books with me – 1.7kgs each! The point is that I have people in Sri Lanka that I have known for a long time, a lot of friends, a lot of artists I have worked with, former students; and I felt that this is the primary audience that the book is designed for. Of course it’ll appear in the Smithsonian and so on but I think that this is where it belongs.

Q: Finally, what is your take on the Colombo Art Biennale – were you also present for the first one?

A: No I wasn’t, this is the first. I recognise that it has limitations but I celebrate the fact that it is happening. I think it is very important that it does happen. There will be mistakes but you take them onboard and try and fix them as you go along. You don’t wait for everything to be fixed before you start otherwise you will never begin.