Fredskorpset. Bringing people together.
The phone call was unexpected, and the caller was unsure. Way back in 1999, I had no previous contact with Norway. More importantly, the person calling had already had a hiccup. His research had led him to someone who didn?t speak English, hadn?t travelled much, and wasn?t familiar with any of the issues that he was meant to have authored. It was a case of mistaken identity, but Per Kristian Lunden wanted to be sure it was the REAL Shahidul Alam this time round. We photojournalists share a common language, and soon, the doubt disappeared. While we were strangers, there was enough common ground to know we walked similar paths and in this case, had a common goal. We were going to build on a database for media practitioners of the south, that I had started.
More phone calls followed and eventually I found myself opposite a tall Norwegian (all Norwegians are tall by Bangladeshi standards) at Kristiansand, and Per Kristian Lunden and I drove off to the city of Ris?r. The idea of a city with 3000 people was novel to me. But it was summer and they had a wooden boat festival. I was fascinated by the long nights. Continue reading “A meal without rice”