A Tale from Climate Ground Zero
Documentary photography exhibit by Din Muhammad Shibly
Photographer Din Muhammad Shibly captures his experiences in gripping frames. His camera has for a long time focused on the dramatic changes in nature and the earth. Now the visual artist has given viewers an opportunity to soak in his works through a documentary photography exhibition.
The exhibition, titled 'Time/Life - a Tale from Climate Ground Zero' is on at Alliance Francaise de Chittagong.
“Documentary photography is a concept through which a photographer exhibits his experience and shares his insights through his work which he has documented for a long period of time,” explained the artist.
The exhibition showcases his photo-works which he captured over the last 30 years. He witnessed the devastation of the great Padma, catastrophe caused by cyclone Mora, the worst inundation of Dhaka city, turning of Kolatoli reserve forest into a bustle, the havoc of ship breaking yards, the drought- brought by Farakka Barrage and many other occurrences.
“Photography has the power to capture a moment or a place for eternity which is not same at all as it was before. In my long journey as a photographer, I have witnessed the devastation caused by climate change, cataclysm brought on by global warming and upheaval among the climate migrants. It is time I shared some of the facts I witnessed to which everyone has their back turned,” said Shibly about his motivation for the exhibition.
The photographs were presented on different walls of the gallery depending on different topics revolving climate change.
The first wall provides an introduction to the photographer through the display of images of his feet placed at several places he roamed. As if he absorbed the aroma, the past and the beauty of those places through his body.
The second to fourth walls hold his works on different topics of climate change: the death of rivers, turning of a paddy field into barren land, the loss of livelihood of a farmer, the extinction of a forest, the effect of carbon emission on a city and many others.
The fifth wall exclusively talks about the river Padma.
“A fisherman, in pursuit of Hilsha, rowing on the mighty Padma was captured by a tempest. The uncertainty of his escape from the tide made him pray loud to the Almighty for salvation - such was a piece of tale we heard from our elders about the river Padma – a river which provides livelihood also takes life,” said Shibly.
But the mighty river is not as magnanimous as it was decades ago. Those who could capture the glorious past of Padma in their mind could be treated as the luckiest of us, he said.
His work on the Padma bears the testimony to the consequence of a river ravaged by humans.
The exhibition began on December 19 and will continue till December 24. A workshop by the artiste will be held on December 21 at Alliance Francaise hall at 5pm.