Making Bangladesh proud
Rashid Talukder wins National Geographic’s Pioneer Photographer Award
Talukder’s images remain an important visual archive of the events in both pre and post-Liberation War Bangladesh.
Renowned Bangladeshi photographer Rashid Talukder has won the 2010 Pioneer Photographer Award in the All Roads Photography Programme, according to a press release. Talukder is the first Bangladeshi photographer to win this prestigious award.
Talukder's award-winning photograph will be displayed at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., September 20 through November 21, 2010, as part of both the All Roads Film Festival and FotoWeek D.C.
The All Roads Film Project is a National Geographic programme dedicated to providing a platform for indigenous and under-represented minority-culture storytellers from around the world to showcase their works to promote knowledge, dialogue, and understanding with a broader, global audience.
Rashid Talukder was born on October 24, 1939, in Chabbish Pargana, West Bengal, India. His interest in photography was initiated while he was in school. Talukder began working in the darkroom in 1945 when he was a student of class 8.
He joined the daily Sangbad as a photojournalist in 1962, and has been a press photographer since then for 46 years. He worked with the daily Ittefaq for 29 years.
His images of the Liberation War (1971) are considered invaluable documents. For several decades, he has recorded various aspects of Bangladeshi life. His images remain an important visual archive of the events in both pre and post-war Bangladesh.
Talukder received several honours at home and abroad. His photograph of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's historic speech on March 7, 1971 was nominated for the Encyclopaedia on Southeast Asia, published by Cambridge University, England.
Talukder received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Chobi Mela IV, International Festival of Photography, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2006 for his contribution to photography.
He has been a member of the advisory council of several photographic societies including The Bangladesh Photographic Society. He is also the founder of the Bangladesh Photo Journalists Association