4th DUPS National Photography Festival
Shad Ahmed
Dhaka University Photographic Society (DUPS) in collaboration with Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) organised its 4th National Photography Festival in the capital recently.
The three-day festival, held from July 29 to 31 at Gallery 6 of BSA, united innovative newcomers as well as professionals with the display of 120 selected photographs in five categories, which included photos by school and college students, university students, DUPS members, professionals and photo story. Besides, eight famous photographs by renowned portrait photographer Nasir Ali Mamun were also exhibited. DUPS presented a life-time achievement award to Mamun for his outstanding work in the field.
The winner in the university category was Tahia Farhin Haque. Winning this prize is such a big honour. This year, getting my photos selected and becoming the winner was a surreal experience for me as all my photos were taken with my phone. The DUPS festival is one of the best exhibitions by a student body and I have to thank my university photography club, NSUAPC, for teaching me and making me brave enough to show my photographs, said Haque, who is studying biochemistry at North South University.
The winner from the DUPS category was Saif Mostafiz, a student of biochemistry and molecular biology department of Dhaka University. I started photography mainly as a hobby. But with time, my passion for it grew. My family, friends and DUPS colleagues have always stood by me and supported me in every possible way. To me, each and every photograph tells a story. Thus, I intend to go forward as a storyteller through my photographs. Awards such as this one will motivate me on my journey. I seek blessings from all so that I might present more beautiful works in future, said Mostafiz.
Photo story category winner Ambia Rahman said: I find joy in photography. I am studying architecture at Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology. I am also doing a diploma on photography from Counter Foto. I think photography is the most powerful medium to express our thoughts and try to see the same thing with different eyes, in different ways. I would like to thank DUPS for organising such a wonderful event. I am glad to be part of this festival.
Hundreds of amateur and professional photographers had submitted 7,500 photographs based on different themes from every corner of the country. From those, 120 photos were selected by the judges, who included famous photographers like Abir Abdullah, Hasan Chandan and Syed Latif Hossain. The participants were presented with crests and certificates.
The inaugural ceremony was held at the Shilpakala Academy auditorium on July 29 with cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor as chief guest. BSA director general Liyakat Ali presided over the ceremony. A festive rally was brought out from TSC on the Dhaka University campus.
On July 30, Photography Club Presentation took place with the participation of many school, college and university photography clubs, including BUET Photographic Society, Daffodil International University Photography Club, North South University Art Photography Club, Jagannath University Photographic Society and East West University Photography Club.
The event was followed by Meet the Judges session where Hasan Chandan and Syed Latif Hossain motivated the young photographers. Later, Artist Talk session was held with photographer Rahul Talukdar, who talked about his work and inspired the participants.
The festival ended with a prize-giving ceremony on July 31 with DU Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique as the chief guest.
The festival was a great success as scores of people visited the exhibition and acknowledged the works of the aspiring photographers with words of encouragement.
Photos: Courtesy.
