FT.COM/MAGAZINE OCTOBER19/202019 35
T
he womenby the water look like
old friends.Fromtheir spontaneous
grins to the intimacywith which they
turn to each other,itisamoment of
uncomplicatedjoy.But behind their smilesliesa
less ordinary story.The women aresex workers
waitingoutsidetheHouseofParliamentbuilding
in Dhaka,Bangladesh, to hand out condoms for
protection against HIV/Aids to fellowworkers.
The photograph, taken in 1996,isone of the
earliest ofabodyofimages by ShahidulAlam,
entitled“Still She Smiles”.The serieshas seen the
Bangladeshi photographer,alongside 11 others,
shortlistedfor the PrixPictet 2019. Thisyearthe
subject of theprizeisHope.
Thatsentimentshinesthrough“Still She
Smiles”.Its star is HazeraBeagum, thewoman
pictured sitting on the wallint he parliament
photograph. In other images, she is seen with
children, bathing them,kissing them, picking
lice from their hair.Asmile dancesonher face,
witness to her achievement inescapingalife
whereshe was raped,sold andbeaten.
Today, Hazera presidesoveranorphanage in
Dhaka, which she foundedin2008 with herown
savings. Alreadysome of her former chargeshave
graduatedfromuniversity; othersare in school.
WhenIask why he chose Hazera’s story for his
Pictet callingcard, Alam replies: “Wetend to
associatepeople with certain characteristics...
sexworkers areseenasacertaintypeofperson.
Thefactthattherewas this incredible,beautiful
woman–beautifulinall senses–who was
stigmatisedbecauseshe wasasex worker.
Yet, despite thelife she had led, and whatshe
had faced, shestill took it upon herselftogive
hope to others.”
Similarwords couldbe applied to Alam too.
Aslight,immaculate figureinwhitetrousersand
elegant greypunjabi–atraditional south Asian
shirt–the 64-year-old is sittinginthe livingroom
of hi ssister NajmaKarim’s houseinEaling,
west London. On hiskneesits hissix-year-old
great-niece,Lylah, who iskeen to co-opt his help
forher drawingsonhis iPad.
Ayear ago,however,the situation wasvery
different.Alam wasinprison in Dhaka and his
sister’s homewas theLondon HQ ofaglobal
campaigntoreleasehim. His incarceration was
triggered by criticism he levelledatBangladesh’s
AwamiLeague government during student
protests in the summerof2018.Initiallyfuelled
by anger at Dhaka’spoortraffic laws,aftertwo
teenagerswere killedbyabus,the scaleofthe
prot estand brutalpolice response wasrooted
in morewidespread rage at state corruption,
violence and inequality.
On August 5, afterlivestreamingthe protests
on Facebook, Alam gave an interviewto
Al Jazeera, in whichhelaidout the accusations
against the government and theprime minister,
Sheikh Hasina. That night he was arrestedathis
home and subsequentlyimprisoned andtortured
in an effort to force him to cease speaking out
against Hasina’s regime. Hiscapturetriggered
acampaign for hisrelease that includedNobel
laureates, movie stars,artistsand writers,as
well as hundredsofordinary citizens who
admired himfor theintegrity with which he
approacheshis work.
Alamwas imprisoned for 107 days.His case
was filedunder Bangladesh’s Information,Communication andTechnologyAct (since
replacedwith theequallyharshDigital Security
Act), which can silence dissidentvoicesona
charge of“hurting the imageof the nation”.
On November 20,hewas finallyreleasedon
bail. It was the mostharrowing chapter ofalife
devotedtoexposing injustice. Over theyears,
he hasbeenarrestedseveral times, knifedinthe
streetand fought tokeep exhibitionsopenwhen
the police attempted to close them.
The son ofascientist andachild psychologist,
Alam wasstudyingfor adoctorate in chemistry
at th eUniversity ofLondon in the 1980swhen
he acquiredhis fir st camerafromafriend.His
earliestprofessional images were portraits of
childrenbut he always sawhis camera asatool
in the struggle forcivil rights.“I’ve neverbeen
that interestedinart for art’ssake, ”hehas said.
ALondon ArtsCouncilaward encouragedhim to
pursuephotography asacareer.
Long beforethis,however, Alam had noticed
thatvisual media couldbe asource of crucial
information and inspiration. He was just 15
when Bangladesh fought for independence
from Pakistanin1971’s“war of liberation”,
but recall s, “Weweresohungry for images.
Someone would smuggle in TimeorNewsweek
and thoseimages–of jubilant freedom fighters
challenging theregime, forexample–gaveus
so much hope.”
Alam’s love for his country isadefining
characteristic. HereturnedtoBangladesh in 1984
and, despite ongoing legal challenges, it is still
his home, although he is entitledtoremaininthe
UK.His pi ctures bear witness to the country in
allits complexity.“AStruggle forDemocracy”,an ongoingworkthat wasfirst shown in 1989,
chronicledthe popularresista ncetothe regime
of GenErshad, presidentfrom1983-90.Itis
described by Bangladeshi photography curator
TanzimWahabasa“frankand fearlesspiece
of storytelling”thatinvestigates each layer
ofthenewdemocracy,including“indigenous
rightstruggles,votin grights,environmental
catastrophe,Islamic movements,hostilepolitical
leadership and class struggles”.
In la terseriessuchas“Cros sfire”(2009-
10), Alam focusesonextrajudicial killings
by Bangladeshi statesecurityforces,and in
“Kalpana’s Warriors”(2015),heexplores the
1996 “disappearance”ofactivist KalpanaChakma
as she campaignedfor the rights of indigenous
people in Bangladesh’s Chittagong HillTracts.
Alam hasagift forreve alingpeople’s suffering
without compromising individual dignity.Asked
howheachievesthe balance, herepliesquietly:
“A photograph is as muchaportrait ofyouasof
the personyou arephotographing.”
He does not regard himself primarily as a
photojournalist.“I’ve produced far lesswork
than others,” he observ es.“Iwantedmywork
to makeadifference. [And]Icould do it through
my photography.But Icould alsodoitt hrough
building warriors”–arefer ence to the band
of photographershehas inspired.His first step
was to found the DrikPictureLibra ry in 1989,
to represent photographers as theychronicled
resistancetoErshad. In 1998,hefounded
an academy, the Pathshala South AsianMedia
Institute. Twoyears later,heinaugurated
ChobiMela, south Asia’s first international
photographyfestival.▶