Fan Art

Posting after more than 10 months. All these times I’ve been very reluctant about my blog. Hopefully I won’t be doing that any more.
Here is one of my latest works. I’ve been a part of this band before. And rite now I call this fan art.

Beauty

Last August I was hired by an ad firm on contractual basis to take 5000 photographs within TEN days for a banglalink newspaper spread. Those ten days passed like one long-stretched nightmare; the pressure was unnerving. Each day I would set out with whatever camera I could manage and wander the streets around Dhanmondi asking random people to pose for me in front of the camera with their (or anyone’s) cell phone. I probably lost a few pounds, was sleep-deprived and exhausted to the bones. My friends who have seen me during those ten days can confirm. The pay was so low and that it was not worth the pain. So what did I get out of it? The experience of meeting 5000 very different people, and it was totally worth it the pain. Here is just a glimpse of what I got out of it for you.

On this particular day, I made a trip to Modhubazar at Shankar, home to many rickshaw pullers and their families. When you are taking roughly 500 pictures a day, quality is not really what you strive for. But just look at this girl, and dare tell me she is not beautiful.

The Next IUB Catalogue

Back onto photoshoping (which I believe is my true area of expertise), here is the cover design of the next IUB Catalogue. Hopefully, I am not breaking any university policies by posting this. I believe this is my best photo implementation till date. It may not look artistic to you, but I have combined the best of my technical skills and creative effort to create this out of almost nothing. My only starting point from the university was a real photograph of the building. I hope you all like it and I can’t wait to see it on print.

Breaking Dawn

I’ve never been much of a photographer; I’ve never even owned a proper camera. Yet the day I arrived Chittagong last June, I set myself free on the empty streets at breaking dawn with a camera in my hand. What better way to start a perfect day but with a beautiful dawn? Out of the hell hole of Dhaka, walking into the crisp morning sun of Chittagong was like a breath of fresh air.

Just Do It !

Nike is the number one sport shoes and apparel selling company in the world. Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman officially created Nike in the late 1970’s. However, under the name Blue Ribbon Sports, those two men begun to sell running shoes in the early 1960’s. In fact, Nike’s swoosh logo was created in 1971 by Caroline Davidson but the first shoe with this logo did not appear until the next year. The Swoosh represents “the wing of the Greek Goddess NIKE”

Today the biggest stars in the sports world is the brand ambassadors of Nike.  Stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lebrone James and Rafael Nadal. All of them are the best in their respected grounds. 3 of my most favourite players from three of my most favourite games and with my favourite brand NIKE

Whisey Lullaby

“Whiskey Lullaby” is the title of a country song composed by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall. It was first recorded by Brad Paisley as a duet with Alison Krauss on Paisley’s 2003 album Mud on the Tires, and released in mid-2004.The song reached a peak of #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, and #41 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Whiskey Lullaby” is a largely acoustic ballad, accompanied mostly by acoustic guitar. It centralizes on a couple who separate and eventually drink themselves to death because they cannot cope with being apart. Paisley sings the first verse and chorus, focusing on the male character, while Krauss sings the second verse and chorus, focusing on the female voice.

I came to know about this song a couple of months back, and I was very touched with its composition, lyrics and vocal works. It inspired to make this picture, the girl in white with wings and the glass spilling whiskey indicates the songs lyrics.

To them these streets belong

“When two homeless people pass each other on the street, they may share a look, and in that moment, without speaking, they have knowledge of each others’ lives.” -Leory Skalstad, homeless photographer.
It’s in those streets of the dawn in Chittagong that I found this homeless man sleeping on the footpath, covered in polyester sacks. I never stayed on for this man to wake up, but I am sure he had a story to tell.
Sadly enough, it’s people like him who represent a large proportion of the population of Bangladesh-people who crowd the streets of our cities, people who we hardly notice unless their begging starts to feel like harassment, the homeless, the slum dogs. Their life stories are the true representation of life in Bangladesh. They have embraced the streets for their home, and the street has given them shelter. They belong to these streets, and to them these streets belong.

Nemesis

Nemesis one of the best rock bands in Bangladesh. They have come a long way and now they have their own style and sound which catches the attraction most. With Maher on guitars and Zohad on vocals, they make the most impressive combination. their compositions, writings can be compared to the international level.
Since I am a rock and alternative fan, I prefer listening to Nemesis because they can provide the sound i need to listen to. This band happens to be one of my biggest inspiration of all time when it comes to music aswell as other creative aspects.

Yaba Addiction In Bangladesh

Photo - Internet

Drug addiction has been a common aspect for the youth of this generation. This drug addiction is gradually destroying the future of the youth. Today, this is an open secret to everybody but there is no strong initiatives taken to prevent people from taking illegal drugs which are harming them. The most recent form of addiction towards drugs is that of Yaba. And suddenly it got popular among the young generation without people from other age groups not having any knowledge about this. It initially spread among higher class and higher middle class people. Now the youth generation, instead of building their future, is destroying it with a poisonous drug called Yaba.

The use of Yaba had been sweeping through the youth populace in the Dhaka city’s posh neighborhoods until the recent hauls. It began to spread at an alarming pace since the launch of a massive clampdown on heroin and Phensidyle dealers about a few years ago. More and more youths in areas like Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Dhanmondi switched to the deadly pills with heroin and Phensidyle becoming less available.

Yaba, Thai for ‘crazy medicines’, however has been the drug of choice among a section for quite a long time now. But as most of the pushers were from families having close connection with the past governments they could not be tough on them, leading to its steady spread.

Yaba is said to have been originally used by Hitler who gave it to his soldiers to combat against fatigue, heighten endurance and elevate the mood. This Nazi lineage has given the drug street credibility like nothing before it. While most of the ingredients to make it can be purchased legally, and produced within a couple of hours in a casserole dish, there are no such known drug labs in Bangladesh. Yaba is a mixture of methamphetamine, caffeine and at times heroin.

There are umpteen drugs being used in Bangladesh, Heroin, Cocaine, Ecstasy, Yaba, Phensydil, Crystal Meth, and many more. The problem is that the number of users is rising at a frightening rate. Worse, these drugs have found mass appeal in almost all age groups. From people in their early teens to the fifties, a major portion of society has got aboard the drug train, a train that runs not on oil or coal, but the newest drug in town, Yaba.

There was an article on Yaba addiction on “Daily Star – Star Weekend Magazine” click on the link for more details”

http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2006/09/02/cover.htm

February the 25th

Our deepest condolences to the families of the officers, and other innocent people who lost their lives during the BDR carnage.

I was in class when my father called, “Fetch your sister from her office and come home as soon as possible, there’s a civil war.” Dubbing a single event as a civil war may have been an exaggeration, but the extent of the cruelty was no less than that of a war, but that was yet to be revealed. I did as I was told. We took a CNG to Green road, we walked home to science laboratory from there after. The scene on the way back home was surreal–panic in the air, people rushing cluelessly to and fro, army three tons and four-barrel canons on the streets of Dhanmondi.

We spent the next two days trapped in our home a mile away from the BDR headquarters, glued to the news on TV. Sometimes we were in touch with others, sometimes the mobile network was shut. Sometimes we heard micings, sometimes we heard gunshots, for the rest of the time a haunting silence hung over the place. We watched the truth unfold in slow motion. First it was two uniformed bodies floating out the sewerage system, then four more, then a few more, then a lot more. I lost count once they found the mass graves. I’d wake up every morning to pictures and video clips of dead bodies–burnt, deformed, mutilated dead bodies. The barbarism was so, so disturbing.

This was not a mutiny, it was genocide. The BDR soldiers may have been oppressed, they may have had low pay, there may have been corruption in the higher order–how does mass murder solve any of these issues to begin with? I fail to adhere reasons to their deeds.How can our own people do it to our very own army officers? What guilt were those individual officers and their families being punished for? The rumours of what really happened inside carried more horrific stories of murder and rape than the media revealed to us. How can they be so decadent? It makes me want to scream in anguish, I don’t want to mourn silently. Nothin justifies a massacre.

The Bangladesh Rilfes is a well-respected organization; two of our Bir Shrestho belonged to the BDR. I saltue them for their undeniable contribution to our liberation war and for guarding our borders sleeplessly. We all would have sympathized with them, had they only brought up their issues, demands, rights they deserved in public eye. Rising against the authority does not require blood shed. The mutiny was just an excuse to shake the country’s defense system. This is a time when we take a strong stance against the murderers, condemn them and stand besides the army officials and their families.

This marks yet another black spot on our history, as if we didn’t already have enough. We have been left speechless, shaken, traumatised.