Munem Wasif June 18, 2008

Holi Festival, from the series “Old Dhaka: Belonging”

Munem Wasif (Bangladesh, b. 1983) graduated from Pathshala- The South Asian Institute of Photography in Dhaka. He began his career as a feature photographer for the Daily Star, a leading English daily of Bangladesh. After that, he worked two years with Drik international news photo agency as a staff photographer. He is represented by Agency VU in Paris. In 2007, he was selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in the Netherlands. He won an “Honorable Mention” in the All Roads Photography Program by the National Geographic Society for his extensive work on Old Dhaka. His work is exhibited worldwide including the Angor Wat Photo Festival in Cambodia, International Photography Biennial of the Islamic World in Iran, Fotofreo- festival of photography in Australia, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in Japan and Getty image gallery in England.

About the Photograph:

Wasif’s introduction from the Old Dhala series: “A sense of belonging to the people, the place, the innocuous values of small town life -the closeness of it all- came bundled with the person that was to start a new journey in the city. The days of nameless acquaintance was fixated with forgetfulness. Homesick for my mother and sister, the nights were crossed with bouts of restlessness. To make the best out of such a turbulent time, my uncle admitted me to a photography course. While the medium had not appeared in any formal mode before, growing up in a visually explosive country with riots of colors all around, it instantly grabbed my attention…days of frenzied fermentation of variant frames were followed by equally fantastic nights of soul searching within those newly discovered worlds.”