Noazesh Ahmed's 76 Birthday Observed

The 76th birth anniversary of celebrated agricultural scientist and photographer Dr. Noazesh Ahmed was observed yesterday.
Different socio-cultural organisations placed wreaths at his grave in his village home at Paril Nawdha, Manikganj district. A number of organisations arranged discussions, photography exhibitions and cultural programmes on the occasion.
Dr. Ahmed is considered a pioneering Bangladeshi photographer. He was born in Manikganj district in 1935. He did his PhD from University of Wisconsin 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).
His camera focused on typical elements of Bangladesh -- boats, riverbanks, farmers, rural lifestyle, mustard and rice fields. He mainly liked to work in the black and white medium.
Ahmed 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. A few years before his death, Ahmed published two books on poetry of Rabindranath Tagore and Jibanananda Das. Besides publishing the books, he made two slide documentaries on these two great poets.
Ahmed's photos were also regularly featured in major calendars and books. He took part in numerous photography exhibitions in USA, Europe and Japan. His works were published in many internationally reputed newspapers and magazines including the Sunday Times, the Guardian, Focus, Hemisphere, Illustrated weekly of India, Far Eastern Economic Review.
In Bangladesh Dr. Ahmed also attained recognition as a genetic scientist. He developed two varieties of tea.