Lessons of Darkness

Abir Abdullah

By Mrs. Deane

abir1.jpg
from?Death Traps ? Tales of a Mega Com?mu?nity?? Abir Abdullah
Abir Abdul?lah?is another fig?ure on the fore?front of Bangladeshi (doc?u?men?tary) pho?tog?ra?phy. He is a very engaged prac?ti?tioner as well, as his series?Death Trapsshows, which is lit?er?ally awe?some, and with which he hopes to awaken the con?scious?ness of those hold?ing the power to effec?tu?ate a change for the better.
abir3.jpg
from?Death Traps ? Tales of a Mega Com?mu?nity?? Abir Abdullah
The Tale he tells is har?row?ing enough: ?I have been doc?u?ment?ing the impor?tant issue of fire risks faced by res?i?dents of Dhaka for the last cou?ple of years. Through my work, I have seen civil?ians risk?ing their lives to save oth?ers in res?cue oper?a?tions. Fire?fight?ers with lack of train?ing and proper res?cue equip?ment are also part of the res?cue oper?a?tion, bring?ing injured and pan?icked vic?tims of fire to safety. I believe my photo essay will raise aware?ness, and hope that it will act as a cat?a?lyst for the author?i?ties to take prompt action to save the life and prop?erty of an entire com?mu?nity. I hope it will help the pol?icy mak?ers and admin?is?tra?tions to con?sider how Dhaka city has become the ?sec?ond worst? liv?able city in the world. I want to show how revers?ing the trend of inef?fi?ciency and neglect by the author?i?ties can help bring an end to the need?less loss of many lives in the peace?ful, beau?ti?ful city of?Dhaka.?
abir2.jpg
from?Death Traps ? Tales of a Mega Com?mu?nity?? Abir Abdullah
Amidst this chaos, Abdul?lah manoeu?vres with the nerve of the war pho?tog?ra?pher, bring?ing home images that con?jure up scenes from Werner Herzog?s?Lessons of Dark?ness, fea?tur?ing the oil well fire fight?ers in Kuwait after the Gulf-War. Makes me wish for mak?ing funds avail?able for trained experts to come to Dhaka and teach essen?tials to and exchange their tales and expe?ri?ence with the civil?ians and vol?un?teers risk?ing their lives for oth?ers in deeds that may be heroic, but that should not have to be done in the first place. That, and many other mea?sures to improve and save lives, not exploit them.

NB:?Abir Abdul?lah?s work is also part of Metrop?o?lis 2.0, which opens later this week in Dubai at the (this time not so empty) Empty Quar?ter Gallery.

Published October 17, 2011 & Filed in?Catch all

Abir Abdullah was one of the first batch of students from Pathshala, The South Asian Media Academy, and went on to become the school’s vice principal (2009-2011). He later worked at Drik Picture Library and currently works for the European Press Agency EPA.

Author: Shahidul Alam

Time Magazine Person of the Year 2018. A photographer, writer, curator and activist, Shahidul Alam obtained a PhD in chemistry before switching to photography. His seminal work “The Struggle for Democracy” contributed to the removal of General Ershad. Former president of the Bangladesh Photographic Society, Alam set up the Drik agency, Chobi Mela festival and Pathshala, South Asian Media Institute, considered one of the finest schools of photography in the world. Shown in MOMA New York, Centre Georges Pompidou, Royal Albert Hall and Tate Modern, Alam has been guest curator of Whitechapel Gallery, Winterthur Gallery and Musee de Quai Branly. His awards include Mother Jones, Shilpakala Award and Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dali International Festival of Photography. Speaker at Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Oxford and Cambridge universities, TEDx, POPTech and National Geographic, Alam chaired the international jury of the prestigious World Press Photo contest. Honorary Fellow of Royal Photographic Society, Alam is visiting professor of Sunderland University in UK and advisory board member of National Geographic Society. John Morris, the former picture editor of Life Magazine describes his book “My journey as a witness”, (listed in “Best Photo Books of 2011” by American Photo), as “The most important book ever written by a photographer.”

Leave a Reply