Mourners pay last respect to Dr Nowazesh

Star file photoStar Online Report

People from all walks of life paid their last respects to internationally renowned agriculture scientist and photographer Dr Nowazesh Ahmed at the Central Shaheed Minar Wednesday morning.

Nowazesh Ahmed was laid to eternal rest at his village home at Paril Nawda in Manikganj district in the afternoon.

Nowazesh, 80, died of a cardiac arrest while returning home after attending "Celebrating Life", a programme organised by The Daily Star and Standard Chartered Bank at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on Tuesday.

His body was kept at the Shaheed Minar at 11:00am.

Eminent actor and lawmaker Asaduzzaman Noor, Awami League Presidium member Obaidul Kader, CPB leader Mujahidul Islam Selim, UGC Chairman Prof Nazrul Islam, eminent media personality Aly Zaker placed wreaths on his coffin at the Shaheed Minar.

Various organisations, including Bangladesh Academy and Chayanot also paid last tributes to Nowazesh Ahmed.

His body was sent to his village home Paril Nawadha village in Manikganj where he will be laid to eternal rest at his ancestral graveyard.

Nowazesh did his PhD from Wisconsin-Madison University in USA in Plant Genetics. He spent 10 years doing research on tea plants.

He worked in Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and other South-East Asian countries as consultant of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

He authored numerous books on photography, including "Bangladesh", the first picture album published in the country in 1975, "Portrait of Bangladesh" in 1985, "Burma" in 1981, "Quest for Reality" in 1986, and "Wild Flowers of Bangladesh" in 1997.

His photos were also regularly featured in major calendars and books.

Capturing the country through his lenses for decades, Nowazesh witnessed many historic events in the history of the country.

He took part in many photography exhibitions in USA, Europe and Japan.

His works were published in many globally reputed newspapers and magazines including the Sunday Times, the Guardian, Focus, Hemisphere, Illustrated weekly of India, Far Eastern Economic Review.

He was a board member of Pathshala, South Asian School of Photography.

In his last speech at the 'Celebrating Life' programme, Nowazesh said photography deserves lots of dedication. Now a days people tend to think anybody carrying a camera is a photographer, but it is not true. "One needs much dedication to be a photographer.”

He headed the jury panel of 'Celebrating Life' 2009 Photography contest.

A life-long bachelor, Nowazesh left behind one brother, one sister and a host of relatives, friends, admirers and well-wishers.

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