Shahidul Alam CV

Shahidul Alam CV

Page 6

Executive Profile

Shahidul Alam is a Bangladeshi photographer and writer with a special interest in education and new media. He set up the award winning Drik Picture Library, the Bangladesh Photographic Institute, Pathshala, the South Asian Media Academy,the DrikNews photo agency, and Banglarights, the Bangladesh Human Rights portal. His work has been shown in leading museums including The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Royal Albert Hall, the Photographers Gallery and Tate Modern in London, Le centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.

He is only person of colour to have ever chaired the prestigious International Jury of World Press Photo, considered the United Nations of photography. He is a recipient of numerous international awards and was the first Asian to receive the prestigious, Mother Jones International Award for Documentary Photography. His work has been published in numerous publications all over the world, including National Geographic, Time Magazine, Newsweek, The Guardian, Le Monde, etc. He is the only Bangladeshi to have been commissioned to photograph the cover of Time Magazine. In 2009, he was given the rare privilege by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to make an exclusive portrait of Nelson Mandela.

He has received the Daily Star-Standard Chartered Bank “Celebrating Life 2011” award for lifetime contribution to photography, in September 2011.

Alam’s ongoing work, “Crossfire” received international acclaim, and mobilized a massive public protest. The government closed down the show, but facing court action was forced to withdraw.

Unafraid to shock and appall, sharp photographer, journalist and human rights activist Shahidul Alam examines the ever-increasing issue of ever-prominent extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh.

Shahidul Alam’s Crossfire project first shown in Bangladesh in 2010 to draw attention to extra-judicial killings by RAB was on show at the Queens Museum New York April-May 2012. Following a successful run at New York’s Queens Museum the exhibition comes to Brisbane’s Powerhouse for its first Australian appearance.

His short film “In Search of the Shade of the Banyan Tree” has been shown in festivals in the UK, Germany, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Alam’s recent book The Birth’s Pangs of a Nation both The book and the film celebrate 40 years of Bangladesh’s turbulent history. Through images by the finest photojournalists in the world and personal interviews of photographers, freedom fighters, refugees and care givers, they map the birth of the nation and record the pain and sacrifice of the ordinary Bangladeshi, in what was one of the most massive human displacements in recent times. This book wins Asia Publishing Award-2012 held in November at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the “Best insights into Asian Societies (Non-Fiction) Category”.

Moreover, Alam’s recent noteworthy book “My Journey as a witness” has been published by the Italian fine art publisher Skira and listed in the “Best Photo Books of the year 2011” compilation by American Photo Magazine. John Godfrey Morris the former picture editor of Life Magazine has called it “the most important book ever written by a photographer”.

He is on the advisory board of the National Geographic Society and the Eugene Smith Fund. Alam is also an active blogger and on the international jury 2012 for the “Best of Blogs” contest organised by Deutsche Welle.

Executive Positions

·  Managing Director Drik Picture Library Ltd. 1989-present

·  Principal Pathshala South Asian Institute of Photography (currently South Asian Media Academy). 1998-present

·  Director ChobiMela International Festival of Photography 2000-present

·  Chairman Majority World CIC 2007-present

Other Academic Positions

•  Visiting Professor: Sunderland University UK. / 2007-present
•  Regent Lecturer: UCLA USA / 2008-present
•  Member of the Board of the Program for Narrative and Documentary Practice Tufts University / 2011-present

Academic Qualifications

•  PhD in Organic Chemistry: Free Radical Reactions of Heteraromatic Compounds. London University. / 1983
•  BSc in Biochemistry and Genetics. Liverpool University / 1976

Memberships

•  Member Advisory Board: National Geographic Society, Eugene Smith Foundation
•  Board Member: Drik Picture Library Ltd., Pathshala, South Asian Institute of Photography, Majority World CIC, Panos South Asia, PRIP Trust
•  Fellowships: Honorary Fellow, Royal Photographic Society 2001, Bangladesh Photographic Society 1989.

Positions Held

•  Chairman of International Jury World Press Photo.
•  President Bangladesh Photographic Society for three terms, 1989, 1988, 1987
•  General Secretary Bangladesh Photographic Society for three terms, 1986, 1985, 1984
•  Founder Principal Bangladesh Photographic Institute, 1987-1989
•  Chairman, Masterclass nominating panel for Asia, World Press Photo Foundation, 1996 - present.
•  International Jury Member: World Press Photo, China Humanist Photography Award. China Press Photo Contest, Czech Press Photo Contest, International Photography Biennial of the Islamic World in Iran, Commonwealth Photo Contest.
•  Guest Lecturer: Harvard University, Stanford University, UCLA and USC, USA. Oxford University. London University, Sunderland University, Durham University, Bolton University, UK. Ateneo University, Philippines. National Institute of Design, India, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique, Dhaka University, Bangladesh. Griffith University Australia

Produced Work/Exhibitions/Publications

Many Faces of War 1971

The “Many faces of war 1971” photographic exhibition was held at Suhrawardi Uddan, Dhaka from 12 - 18 February 2012 presenting a visual documentation of a nation’s independence by Drik. The collections of 57 images were archived from 17 artists from Bangladesh, France, India, UK and USA. The exhibition traces Bangladesh’s struggle for independence, from the rise of the resistance movement to the final joy of victory with the birth of the nation.

Bangladesh 1971

Exhibitions in Powerhouse Museum Brisbane from 7 Nov - 3 Dec 2012 and this documentary photographic exhibition presents historical photographic overview of the Bangladesh war of independence in 1971 for the first time in Australia, this unique archival collection embodies the pride of Bangladesh’s struggle for independence, the pain of loss, the humiliation of being violated and the joy of victory.

Naxal Women in “With Love from Southasia,” The stories of the class struggle of Bangladeshi Naxal women with portraits by Shahidul Alam was an exhibit at the “With Love from Southasia,” exhibition of “no man's land,” a design and dialogue space in New Delhi that aims to reengage Southasia as a region. The photographs were on display between May 5th and May 31st 2012 at Lodi - The Garden Restaurant, a central green space on Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India.

•  Curator: “Water The First Element”, OIC Conference Kuala Lumpur for National Art Gallery Malaysia. “Where Three Dreams Cross” Whitechapel Gallery London and Fotomusuem Winterthur, Switzerland. “Bangladesh 1971” Rivington Place. London. “The War We Forgot” Bangladesh National Museum. Dhaka
•  Exhibitions: A Struggle for Democracy; Positive Lives (Curator and Photographer) A Brahmaputra Diary; Bangladesh 1971 (Curator); Portraits of Commitment; Nature’s Fury; Crossfire.
•  Festival Director: ChobiMela(CM) International Festival of Photography CM I: Differences Unframed, 2000; CMII: Exclusion 2002; CMIII: Resistance 2004; CMIV: Boundaries 2006; CMV: Freedom 2009; CMVI: Dreams 2011. CMVII: Fragile 2013
•  Still Photography: Migrant Labour; A Struggle for Democracy;When the Waters Came; Cyclone 1991; Tsunami; Kashmir Earthquake; Climate Refugees; Hemayetpur Mental Hospital; A Brahmaputra Diary; Out of Focus; Women of the Naxalite Movement;Positive Lives; A Two Day Visa;Everyday Life in Bangladesh; Senior Citizens;IbnBatuta;Travel Snapshots; Dancing Amidst the Baobabs; Crossfire.
•  Books: “My Journey as a Witness” (Author) Skira and Bengal Foundation, 2011.
•  Joint Curator :“Blink” 100 contemporary photographs. Phaidon, New York, 200
·  Picture Editor: State of Democracy in South Asia (Lokniti)
·  Contributing editor: Chapter on “Families of Man” page 94-103 in This Critical Mirror: 40 Years of World Press Photo. Thames and Hudson, 1995.
·  Editor: ChobiAlorBasha (Photography the Language of Light) by Azizur Rahim Peu, Drik, 2006.
·  Guest Editor: New Internationalist NI 403, August 2007.
Monographs: Nature’s Fury, Concern Worldwide UK, 2007. Portraits of Commitment, UNAIDS, 2009.
Books with significant contributions:
1.  Chapter1 “The Majority World Looks Back” page 51-66 inThe Weight of Photography, Academic and Scientific Publications, 2010.
2.  “Emerging from the Shadows” Curator’s introductory text page18-22 in Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Fotomuseum Winterthur, Steidel, 2010.
3.  Contributor: “What matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time”, Sterling, 2008.
4.  Photographic documentation for Bangladesh Splendours of the Past: Pictorial account of Bangladesh heritage. Cosmos Printing and Publications, 2001.
5.  Photographic documentation for “Shanghai in the eyes of theWorld’s Top Photographers”, Shanghai Publishing, 1999.
6.  Disrupted Borders: Book and exhibition Rivers Oram Press, 1993.
7.  Photographic documentationfor Chapter on Bangladesh in A Cause for Our Times: Oxfam the First 50 Year,Oxfam UK and Ireland. 1992.
8.  Photographic documentationfor Children at Crisis Point :stories from projects in Asia. Save the Children Fund,Andre Deutsch, 1992.
9.  A Dry Roof and a Cow, A book of portraits published by Friesens and Sons. Was one of the seven international photographers featured in this work.
10.  Photographic documentation on Sher-e-Bangla Nagar (National Parliament Bangladesh)in “Louis L. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture,” [Book on the works of architect Louis Kahn]. Museum of Contemporary Arts, LA, 1992.
Selection of Journal Articles:
·  “Majority World: Challenging the West’s rhetoric of Democracy,” Amerasia Journal Volume 34 Number 1 2008; Asian American Studies Center Press, UCLA, pages 89-98;
·  “The Photography of ‘Resistance’,” Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 1469-8447, Volume 9, Issue 1, 2008. Pages 106-115
·  “Dayanita Singh: Through the Cracks of a Mirror,” Culture and the Human Body: Prince Claus Awards 2008; Prince Claus Fund, Amsterdam 2008), pages 80-85
·  “A Caged Peace,” Culture and Conflict: Prince Claus Awards 2007; Prince Claus Fund, The Hague 2008, pages 14-20; / ,,

Other Achievements

·  Introduced email to Bangladesh in 1993 and effectively initiated ‘Digital Bangladesh’.

·  Set up the first Front Projection Studio in Bangladesh, for the Film Development Corporation in 1985.

·  Founder director of FotoWorld (then the most sophisticated photographic studio in South Asia) in 1984.

·  The first Bangladeshis to go to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

·  Member of the National Bridge Team from 1984 – 1987.

·  Won the Plate Trophy in the Bangladesh National Squash Championship in 1984.

·  Captain of the Bridge, Chess, Squash, Badminton, Tennis, Table Tennis and Swimming teams in Bedford College, London University.

·  Has been on assignments in approximately sixty countries across all continents.