This here is "Amina", the ‘pro-modern’ Damsel in Distress. She was a little camera shy, must’ve been all those years of living in self denial, constantly being reminded that she was born a ‘Girl’ , and in a patriarchal community she is no better than a 2nd class citizen.

Amina earns 1.5 ~ 6 taka (0.085 USD) each day, working as a ‘firewood bearer’ who goes to and fro along the banks of the Kaptai Lake over a distance stretching one and a half mile, countless times, everyday. Both her father and mother are day labourers as well. With rising prices, the three of them can barely meet their ends meet. Their broken shed reeks of alien fumes, aboriginal organisms and bacteroides that are considered ‘lethal’ for the city people.

Yet despite all these difficulties growing up, ‘Amina’ retains a strange, stark beauty. A farcical gaze that tears through your very soul. A look that screams of hardship, of not giving up, of a muted protest against gender discrimination, of the failures of International Bodies like "UNICEF", of a fake prerogative that calls itself "Nari Odhikar Aine" (Law of Women Rights).

Tsk tsk tsk.

Larger View or view on black recommended.

Accolades:

* 1st place on " SAARC-Hall of Fame: Theme ‘Children’ " contest.

* Place on National Geography Magazine’s "Featured Daily Dozen" section.

* Selected as one of the 6 photographs from Bangladesh eligible to attend the "Photography Club World Cup Contest 2008 in France"

* Winner of the 30th Juror’s Choice Award

* Selected as the "Photo of the Day" for 9th Feb,2009 at Photoburst.

* 1st Prize Winner in the "Portrait" category of the prestigious "Vision 09"-Photography Contest in the Hind Leys Gallery , Leicestershire, UK.

Posted by NiH on 2005-04-21 08:03:48

Tagged: , Chakama , Marma , Tribal , Chittagong , Chittagong Hill Tracts , Khagrachari , Insurgency , Independence , Freedom , Shanti Bahini , mountains , hills , smoke , cigar , tobacco , rural , Rangamati , Kaptai , Lake , Kaptai Lake , wood , chilld , child labourer , SAARC , Asia , Save the children , Digital Artistry