Decades of hard work have 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.

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.

Shahidul Alam (Courtesy of JIPFest/Evan)

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.

“I’m happy that I am here, and I’m lucky that I can be here tonight,” said Alam, expressing gratitude for his release when he recently spoke at the Taman Ismail Marzuki cultural center in Jakarta on July 5. “I have so many people to thank for my release.”

He was in Jakarta as part of the Jakarta International Photo Festival (JIPFest) and was among guest speakers brought in for the event. Although the list of guests included talent from all over the world, none seemed to be as highly anticipated as Alam.

After expressing his joy at being invited to speak, Alam began to dissect his long and illustrious career seeking truth as a photographer.

After leaving Bangladesh at the age of 17 to study in England, he did not return to his home country until he was 29.

“I came back thinking my country was free; I soon found out that I was mistaken,” Alam said.

He was reminded of that fact plenty of times throughout his career, which motivated him to give a voice to the voiceless. In doing so, he was constantly clashing with forces that wanted to quell those voices.

One project of his that drew attention to Bangladeshi military atrocities was titled Kalpana’s Warriors. The story that inspired Alam’s innovative work stemmed from a female activist named Kalpana Chakma who championed the rights of indigenous, rural and oppressed hill people of Bangladesh.

On the sidelines: A boy named Mizan who helped clean Shahidul Alam's home sits outside the family's television room, representing a concrete example of class division in Bangladesh. (Courtesy of Shahidul Alam)

Her campaigning led to her kidnapping in 1996. She was never heard from or seen again.

Near the twentieth anniversary of her kidnapping, Alam created an exhibition to make sure her memory was never forgotten. He etched photographs onto straw mats using laser beams, a technique he created specifically for this project.

The laser beams were an allusion to the fires that Bangladeshi authorities set in the neighborhoods of the rural people. Those were the very same fires Chakma was protesting before her disappearance.

Several projects that shed light on corrupt authority were shown during his hour-long talk at JIPFest, but he also touched on lesser-known pieces such as one that addressed the issue of class status in Bangladesh.

Alam himself grew up in a middle-class family and as is custom in Bangladesh, his family had people who helped clean and take care of the house.

One of the younger helpers around the house would watch the family’s TV from just outside the room where the TV was located. He was not barred from entering the room, but he found it to be his place to sit just outside. There was a mental barrier, not a physical one, so to speak.

Alam found this interesting and therefore photographed the young boy behaving in this way.

Later on, Alam was at a minister’s large home when he noticed the children there were enjoying television in their ornate living room. He thought that would make a good juxtaposition to his other photo, so he snapped it.

Giving a voice: Shahidul Alam's early work includes documenting the celebration following the fall of Bangladeshi president Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1990. (Courtesy of Shahidul Alam)

Much later, Alam was on a flight to Dubai when a woman next to him asked, “You don’t remember me, do you?”

She then went on to explain that she was one of the children in the minister’s home that he photographed, and the message of class differences that the photo silently portrayed had gotten through to her.

It turns out, she was heading to Sierra Leone to become a development worker where she would help those less fortunate than her.

“The frame is only a tiny part of the process,” Alam said. “At the end of the day, we do photography to bring about change.”

After his hour was up, a message that Alam had clearly followed all his life flashed on the projector screen: “Want change? Be the change”.

Decades of hard work have led to worldwide acclaim of his photography. However, he pursues his projects for a very different reason, one that landed him in prison less than a year ago.

Whenever he has seen corruption and injustice, he has attempted to quell it with tenacity. Photography just happens to be the medium in which he pursues the change he seeks. Whether that message eventually seeps through to governments or to a young child that grew up rich, change on any scale has made his decades-long career worth it.

As the inspirational message flashed on the screen, he looked straight at the audience and addressed them directly. “There are times when people will ask ‘why continue?’” Alam said. “If you give in to them, they have won.” (ste)

— The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.