by Naeem Mohaiemen
Ten Photographs, Ten Stories[Translated from Bengali by Naeem Mohaiemen]
By then, the inevitable happened. First Shahidul, then Shehzad, Abir, Kiron? one after another, a daring piece of work. All hard core black-and-white, capturing a humane moment. Akash also started out in this mode. There was a unique caring in his photographs. A forgetful rider on an exhausted horse at the beach. Or, an intimate scene of Akash’s mother bathing his grandfather. These early black and white photographs carry the shadows of that established style. In any case, there was tremendous pressure on the younger photographers. Difficult to stand with your head held high. Not easy to brush off the weight of that established structure. If there is no new language, new stories cannot be told. Then even breathing became difficult.
But for some reason Akash was not finding his voice. The images are good, light-composition, everything is in place. But even the good photographs were blending into one, somewhat bland. His blood was hot, his camera hand was itching. It did not take too long to break the rules. Color photographs, wide lense, sexy subject? combining all these, Akash crossed the boundaries, broke the old empire. This was a completely different taste. The established politeness of photography ran out the door. Joop Swart masterclass, Time magazine assignment. Bang, bang, bang? Akash was a superstar.
This photograph is from the time before stardom. Akash was still searching for himself. What should he photograph? Gay men live in Narayanganj. Akash’s own town. Shahjahan is lightly kissing his client. Bodies astray, men kissing men. Was the kiss real? A nearby man is staring at the camera! The pleasure of this photograph increases by another two levels. Were there conversations before snapping the image? Is the whole thing staged? I do not think so. It does not matter anyway. Garish colors, crazy fashion, a tilted frame, bounce flash, distorted shape. A barely controlled excitement. Every gesture has a reckless vibration. There is no comfort in these images. Rather, it aggravates you. Your curious eyes want to know, what is there? The smell is different.
I look at the photographs even more carefully. Dancing, singing, sexuality, adoration, love? it is all so strange. Man or woman, dancer or prostitute? Many questions. Local people call them “kothi.” A family of nine between four walls? many characters. They all seem very strange? the photographs make them even more the “other.” Are photographers then some type of “specialized tourists”? We go to many different places and take such strange photographs? it all seems unfamiliar. That is when I remember Dayanita Singh and Mona Ahmed. As we look at her photographs, Mona is no longer a transvestite. Here the human relationship is more important than the photography. Dayanita and Mona became friends. A relationship of 13 years.
Meanhile Akash transforms from a photographer to professional magazine photographer. Very specifically defined. Geographies outside this country’s borders become his space of circulation. At the same time, that reckless mood of his photographs starts fading away. It is an oppositional relationship. His pictures become polite, restrained, beautiful in their construction. Akash keeps making work, here there everywhere? the clients are mainly western magazines. The sweat of child laborers, the brothel of Daulatdiya, a farmer drowning in floods, indigenous peoples, a corpse cut up by a train, drug addicted youth, shipbreakers, a chain-shackled madrassa student. Demand versus supply. One portrait, one wide shot, some detail, some relationships? a social story in 12 images.
Akash won. But did we lose something special in the process?
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Kamra
