a day with sufia kamal

Entitled ‘One Day in the Life of Sufia Kamal,’ Proshanta Karmakar Buddha put together the graphic record of his childhood idol in the exhibition held at Gallery Chitrak recently

Sufia Kamal was a poet, writer, feminist, social activist and freedom fighter. To present her various facets through photography is a superb idea. When Sufia Kamal was alive, Proshanta Karmakar Buddha planned to record a complete day in her life from dawn to night.

From childhood, Proshanta wanted to memorialise the lives of remarkable personalities in Bangladesh by photographing them during their active life. Proshanta is a free-lance photographer interested in varied themes, and with a penchant for black and white photography. Black and white photography does more to evoke an emotion and freeze a moment in time than any other medium. The subtle tones of grey, the strong emphasis of the blacks, and the softness of the whites make one look much closer at the subject and composition due to the lack of natural colour.

Emotions, illusions and sensations are always much easier to portray in black and white, because of the stark contrasts and the sharp focus on the subject. Black and white photography can also help portray a more personal point of view or add nostalgic touch.

Proshanta’s focus on poet Sufia Kamal shows her from the time when she gets up early in the morning till the moment when she goes to sleep at night. She is shown having breakfast, writing or reading poetry, praying after lunch, engaging in discussions with guests, cooking, relaxing—all in black and white. Through Proshanta’s photography, one can easily appreciate the eminent poet’s disciplined and sociable personality.

Emotion plays an important role in Proshanta’s photography. He explores the inner feelings and emotions with love and affection.

As a photographer, Proshanta, in his 6th solo exhibition, has elevated himself to the status of an artist through careful selection of his subject matter and sensitive composition of his frames. He has depicted the subject’s personality in varying moods with dexterity. The thematic innovations are highly thought provoking and the projected by the images are more powerful for his novel technique and skill. In the end all the images merge into a pattern and tell us a distinctive story.

Takir Hossain is a feature writer with The Independent, Bangladesh

Entitled ‘One Day in the Life of Sufia Kamal,’ Proshanta Karmakar Buddha put together the graphic record of his childhood idol in the exhibition held at Gallery Chitrak recently Sufia Kamal was a poet, writer, feminist, social activist and freedom fighter. To present her various facets through photography is a superb idea. When Sufia Kamal…