Does a photograph speak for itself ? A photograph is different from an ordinary object because it is about something. Because it is about something, it requires interpretation to function as a photograph or as an artwork. One of the best ways to appreciate an image is to observe, think and talk about it. Interpretation is central to looking at all images, historical and contemporary, those we call ‘fine art’ as well as those daily seen in visual culture. Photographs provide insight, information and knowledge only if we interpret them.
5 PM – 7 PM
Thursday, 11th August 2011
The Bakery Cafe, Sundhara
About Hasib Zakaria
Hasib Zakaria is a Bangladeshi photographer who graduated from Pathshala, South Asian Media Academy in 2003. Since then, he has been lecturing at Pathshala, and is now the new vice principal. Hasib is currently a PhD candidate at Vrije University Brussels.
NayanTara Gurung
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.”
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