Page 453 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

450 ART AND CRAFTS

Nasir Ali Mamun (1953-)
Nasir Ali Mamun is exceptional in the field of photography of
Bangladesh as he has selected portrait photography and has
achieved artistic excellence in it. He introduced this trend in
photography in his own style in Bangladesh and has in the
meanwhile photographed the portraits of three thousand
celebrated people of different fields and at different times,
nationally and internationally. ‘If one imagines the map of a
nation within the portraits of its creative people then one must
pause, if even for a moment, in front of Mamun’s photographic
album.’ 93 These portraits photographed in natural light are
luminous in creativity (fig. 10.26). He is particularly able to
capture the expression that presents the personality of an
individual. He photographed the artist late S.M. Sultan for nine
years without break. He has books published on German Nobel
laureate author Gunter Grass’ trip to Dhaka entitled Gunter
fig. 10.26 Grasser Dhaka Abishkar, Kirtimaner Mukhochhabi (2001)
Bismillah Khan, featuring portraits of various famous personalities of the world and Ghar Nai (2001)
photograph Nasir Ali which, on a different note, presents photographs of rootless, floating children of
Mamun, Bangladesh.
© Nasir Ali Mamun
Maksudul Bari (1949), LBPS is an accomplished photographer of this decade. He won
94
first prize in the exhibition organized by ACCU entitled ‘Asian Women’ (pl. 10.11).
Other noteworthy photographers of this period are Shamsul Islam Alamajee, Shafiqul
Islam Swapan, Selim Nawaz Bhuiyan, Mohammad Ali Salim, Manzur Alam Chowdhury,
Kazi Mizanur Rahman, Iqbal Hossain, Sadat Hossain Monju and Altaf Hossain.
4.3 Photographers: the Eighties
The eighties is a glowing and important chapter in the photography of Bangladesh. On
one hand the predecessors have presented themselves in their entirety while on the
other hand many talented photographers have congregated in the field of photography,
‘Photography found its followers and avant-guardists in Bangladesh for decades
now,’ 95 ‘older helmsmen and new boatmen’ 96 [Trans.] have through their joint
advancement established the photography of Bangladesh in the international scene.
Noteworthy artists of this period are Brigadier General (Retd.) M. Atiq-ur-Rahman,
Dr. Shahidul Alam, Debabrata Chowdhury, Nafis Ahmed Nadvi, Hasan Saifuddin
Chandan, Dr. Rashid Un-Nabi, Shahab Sattar, Khalid Mahmud Mithu, Abul Malek
Babul, Swapan Saha, Kabirul Zulfiquer, BKS Inan, Chanchal Mahmood, Abu Taher,
Enamul Karim Nirjhar and Kashinath Nandi.
Brigadier General (Retd.) M. Atiq-ur-Rahman, Hon. FBPS, became involved in
photography at the end of his long career (1987). He was involved with BPS for a long
period of time including working as its advisor. He has worked extensively on the
nature and life of different countries of the world.