Choloman Upakhyan
The inauguration ceremony of the group photography exhibition “Choloman Upakhyan” took place at La Galerie of Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) on 23 June, 2023. The photography exhibition was arranged by the students of the ‘Visual Storytelling Workshop’ of Alliance Française de Dhaka, coordinated by Abir Abdullah. Shafiqul Alam, Bureau Chief, France-Press, Tushar Abdullah, Editorial Head of Ekhon Television, and photographer of Map Photo Agency, Shafiqul Alam Kiron were present as the special guests at the event.
At the workshop, the participants were taught how to visually present a story through the thematic use of realistic or imaginary series of photographs. And the outcome has been wonderful which we get to see at the exhibition. “Choloman Upakhyan” consists of photographs of five visual lens based artists. They have chosen different social issues to portray through their own perspectives.
Abir Abdullah
Abir Abdullah is currently the photo editor of the largest Bangla newspaper Prothom Alo in Dhaka, Bangladesh. An independent photographer and tutor, Abir was born 1971 in Bagerhat in southern Bangladesh. He holds a Masters in Marketing (M. Com) from Dhaka University. Making a significant career change to become a photographer, he studied at the Bangladesh Photographic Institute in 1993 and then at Pathshala Media Institute, gaining a diploma in photojournalism in 1999. Following this the World Press Photo Foundation – Netherlands supported him on a three-year seminar (Pleasure of Life).
He worked as a staff photographer at European Pressphoto Agency (2005-2017), Drik PLC (1996 to 2005); was a Founding partner of DrikNews (2006); Principal of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute (2018-2020) and was a Jury Member of the World Press Photo in 2011. Abir’s numerous awards includes the Mother Jones Award 2001 for his work on Freedom Fighters (Veterans of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971) and the 1st Prize National Disaster category NPPA best of photojournalism award 2008. His work continues to gain recognition and he was the Alexia Foundation Professional grants winner 2013 and the recipient of the Leica Reportage prize in the Vevey International Photography Awards in Switzerland 2013.
Abir’s work has been published in New York Times, New Yorker, Time, Guardian, The Telegraph, Stern, Der Spiegel, the New Internationalist Magazine and many other international publications. He was one of the photographers featured in the book BLINK, published by Phaidon, featuring 100 photographers worldwide and in the book titled New Stories commissioned and published by World Press Photo.
Glimpses of Choloman Upakhyan
