A solo photography exhibition of eminent photographer Anwar Hossain is going on at the Dhaka Art Center in Dhanmondi. The event titled Calcutta – Kolkata was inaugurated by Sanjay Bhattacharya, the Deputy High commissioner of Indian High Commission in Bangladesh on 1 November. Renowned poet Belal Chowdhury and journalist Shaheen Reza Noor attended the event as guests of honour.
Photographer Anwar Hossain visits Kolkata on regular basis. The displayed photographs depict the lives and happenings of the important and richly traditional city of India. The photos reveal a scenario of present day Kolkata.
Common scenes of the everyday life on the streets of an ever- busy Kolkata has been skilfully captured through the lens of the charismatic Bangladeshi-French photographer who is prominent since the early 70s for his worthy contribution in the field of visual imageries. Complex yet eternal relationship of man with nature and related subjects, desire, passion and emotional upheavals of the unpredictable mind and spirit apart from various non-human topics appears as major elements and ingredients in the displayed photographs.
Homeless floating mass of the urban communities and their struggles and hardship have been captured skilfully through Hossain’s lens. A number of photographs have deep symbolic undertone showing stray dogs at the roadside neighbourhood as key characters of the indifferent community.
The famous Howrah Bridge above the river Ganges and decorative garlands of the orange gendha flower have projected strong symbolic connotation those carry many of us back to the good old days of rich Bangalee tradition of rituals and festivities which till today is a vital incorporation between the past, present and the upcoming future of the fashion-oriented young generation.
The shabby, dilapidated walls of the ancient city with muddy puddles of the roadside potholes are too, quite artistic and significant in their very own ways in terms of relationship between the human world and that of the surrounding backdrop.
The word Popcorn and a sculpture of a dinosaur are again some symbolic signatures of the contemporary society those help to reminisce the conventional past.
Close-up portraits of human subjects provide mixed sense of wit, truthfulness, anguish and disappointment of the ongoing times to the simpler days of the unfussy past. In fact, the title of the exhibition itself has been a good explanation of the theme where Calcutta is a hint of the past alongside Kolkata, the contemporary version of the same.
Most of the photographs of Anwar Hossain seems to present a contrasting scenario between several timelines of the common society, hence creates a mixed inter-relationship between man and the inevitable destiny, a most inexplicable phase of creation from which none is to receive any compassion or relief, whatsoever.
Award-winning Bangladeshi productions like Emiler Goenda Bahini, Puroshkar, Dohon, Hulia, Chitra Nadir Parey, Nadir Nam Modhumoti, Lalshalu and most importantly Surjo Dighal Bari are some of the memorable titles those bear key contributions of leading photographer-cum-camera artiste Anwar Hossain, who is also an architect and international photography judge.
The exhibition is open from 3:00pm to 8:00pm till 13 November.
News Source: The Daily Sun