Sayeeda Khanam: Reminiscing a rebel

"As a child, I dreamt of climbing the Himalayas when I grew up."

These words from Sayeeda Khanam immaculately capture the essence of her illustrious life. Her persona resonated with the meaning of her nickname, Badal, which loosely translates in English as rain. While her smile had the aura of a drizzle, her unapologetic grit reverberated like a torrential downpour.

Sayeeda Khanam was born on December 29, 1937, in Pabna, present-day Bangladesh. Born into a family where her grandfather was an educationalist, an aunt was a poet, her eldest brother a renowned singer, and three sisters were artists, teachers, and school principals, she found herself in an environment with progressive views. This was particularly significant at a time when the majority of society clung to various fundamentalisms, creating the ideal space for Sayeeda to blossom as she desired.

Eighty-six years after Sayeeda's birth, these facts still resound, underscoring the pivotal role of parenting and support systems in shaping someone's journey, regardless of the societal norms they were born into. However, winning the birth lottery didn't mean it was easy for Sayeeda; what she accomplished with a camera, paving the way for future generations of female photographers, was nothing short of conquering the Himalayas.

Sayeeda took her first photographs with a box camera, and at the age of eighteen, her sister, who had studied abroad, brought her a Rolleicord camera. With this new magical tool in hand, she began creating her art with light and shadow. Mostly self-taught, in 1956, she received an international award from Germany. At nineteen, she embarked on her professional career as a photojournalist for Begum magazine, a renowned women's weekly—the first of its kind in East Bengal. For a significant period, she stood as the lone female photographer in East Pakistan.

She actively participated in photography contests and exhibitions at home and abroad. Despite being one of the most important figures in Bangladeshi photography history, my initial introduction to Sayeeda Khanam, when I was younger, was through clichéd words used in mainstream media to portray her as the "First Bangladeshi Female Photographer," as if her gender were her sole achievement.

Like many similar cases in Bangladesh, her works were never given due recognition during her lifetime. Six months after she passed away on August 18, 2020, during Covid, a tribute exhibition titled "The Rebel With A Smile" honoured her at the "Shunno" edition of the prestigious Chobi Mela International Festival of Photography. 

Prior to the installation phase, my ever-quieter self sneaked a peek at the curator's table, where hundreds of prints from her archive awaited selection. This was my first proper introduction to Sayeeda's eminence. I was lost in wonder as I saw how she photographed the daily lives of women during her time, displaying a distinct amicable nature that is difficult to put into words. I was captivated as I recognised photographs shot on the sets of Satyajit's films that I grew up watching. Another vital aspect of her work is how she represented women in the context of the Liberation War of 1971, especially with photographs of women carrying guns. She famously "returned the gaze" by photographing them outside the questionable narrative of mostly victimisation, suggesting that independence was gained in exchange for the honour of our mothers and sisters as if only men fought the war.

A significant part of her story is her lifelong friendship with the maestro Satyajit Ray, who addressed her as "Dear Badal." She silently photographed Ray for thirty years and was one of only two photographers (other than Nemai Ghosh) permitted to take stills of his three films: "Mahanagar" (1963), "Charulata" (1964), and "Mahapurush" (1965). On the ninth edition of Chobi Mela, she was awarded a lifetime achievement award. In 2019, she received the Ekushey Padak, the second-highest civilian award in Bangladesh, from the government. Though primarily a photographer, Sayeeda was also a prolific author, having published short stories, novels, and essays in various newspapers. Some of her books include "Dhulomuthi", "Upanyashtroyee", "Amar Chokhe Satyajit Ray", and her autobiography, "Smritir Path Beye".

Bangladeshi photography has come a long way, and as we celebrate the achievements of Ashfika Rahman and Salma Abedin Prithi, whose works have transcended gender boundaries solely by merit and are honoured in the world of contemporary photography practice, let us not forget the trailblazer Sayeeda Khanam, whose significant portions of the archive are yet to be discovered.