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Shahidul Alam gives voice to the voiceless through his lens
Decades of hard work has led to worldwide acclaim of his photography, but Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam continues to pursue his projects for a very different reason – one that landed him in prison less than a year ago.
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Remember: One of Shahidul Alam's projects titled Kalpana's Warriors raises attention to an armed kidnapping of a Bangladeshi social activist in 1996. (Courtesy of JIPFest/Evan)
World-renowned photographer and social activist Shahidul Alam was familiar with government pushback by the time 2018 came around.
Alam’s stirring and impactful images often clashed with the government and military of his home country Bangladesh, both of which would rather keep Alam from exposing their corruption and injustices as he so often did.
His exhibitions were often heavily guarded or shut down altogether, but that repression was nothing compared to what happened in August of last year.
During an interview with Al Jazeera, Alam criticized the government’s violent response to road safety protests in the capital of Dhaka.
In retaliation, he was taken from his home, tortured and put in jail, which led to a global outcry for his release from people such as Sir Richard Branson and Desmond Tutu. The latter of the two men also happens to know a thing or two about oppressive governments.
This extremely loud and penetrating reaction helped hasten his release, which eventually occurred in late November of the same year. He was then selected among a list of other truth-seekers for Time magazine’s annual Person of the Year.
His arrest was especially poignant during a time when shedding light on atrocities led to the tragic deaths of people such as journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who headlined the aforementioned list.
