http://www.newint.org/issue377/exposure.htm
I took this photo on World Women's Day, 8 March 2004. It shows survivors
of acid attacks. Such attacks are still made against women who are
accused of violating social codes. Here they are staging an 'awareness
drama'. Amra aar eka noi ('We Are Not Alone') was written and performed
by survivors. Their dreams have been shattered, their faces and bodies
charred by a liquid fire - acid. But their indomitable courage and
will-power to rebuild their lives and move forward is strengthened by
everyone telling them they are not alone. All the performers use masks,
but at the end of the drama they take the masks from their faces and
introduce themselves to the audience. They are so emotional. I took the
photo to show this emotion, which I think is very difficult to describe
unless you have felt it yourself.
Abir Abdullah
Bangladesh
About Shahidul Alam
I am a Bangladeshi photographer, writer and activist with a special interest in education, new media and ICT. I was a research tutor at London University where I obtained a PhD in organic chemistry before taking up photography as a profession. I am a former president of the Bangladesh Photographic Society and set up the award winning Drik Picture Library. I also set up the Bangladesh Photographic Institute and Pathshala, the South Asian Institute of Photography and the DrikNews photo agency. I am the director of Chobi Mela the festival of photography in Asia.
My work has been shown in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, the Royal Albert Hall in London, Le centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and the National Art Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. I have chaired the World Press Photo international jury. I am an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a board member of the National Geographic Society and the Eugene Smith Foundation.
I am currently visiting professor of photography at the University of Sunderland. I have lectured at Harvard, UCLA and Stanford universities in the USA, Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and Universidade Eduaro Monldane in Mozambique and Oxford and Cambridge universities in the UK. I was one of the Masters in the Joop Swart Masterclass organised by World Press Photo.
My new book “My Journey as a Witness” has been selected as one of the “Best Photo Books of 2011” by American Photo.
