It all started quite by an accident. In 1981, while visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, USA, where the India Festival was being held, I came across some remarkable vintage photographs of British and Princely Indian states on display. As I stood transfixed in front of a photograph of an Indian potentate…
For a proper perspective on early photography in Dhaka, it is necessary to provide a brief history of photography in the Indian subcontinent during the British colonial era. In January 1840, less than two years after the appearance of commercial photography in Europe, photographic equipment and supplies were being sold in Calcutta and Bombay. The…
The infatuation was instant. I was intrigued. The sensory within me was stimulated by the sheer visual impact of what I saw in print. Then in the summer of 1999, while in London, I got to see a rare collection of original mid-19th to early 20th century specimens of the painted photograph. The experience was…
Bangladesh has been famous for centuries for its unique festivals and ceremonies. Although most of these are religious in nature, there are also seasonal celebrations of a cultural or secular character, where people participate spontaneously, irrespective of religion, caste, creed and social class. Such occasions reflect the shared and composite cultural values of the people.…
In 1840 an unknown artist painted an exquisite series of watercolours depicting the riverfront view of Dhaka. The series shows a row of elegant houses and palatial mansions in the colonial style, belonging to wealthy merchants, indigo planters, zamindars (native and foreign) and British officials of the East India Company. Historical landmarks of medieval and…
