Bangladesh in a World of Seven Billion

Images by Naymuzzaman Prince.

“I never saw so many anxious faces together at one place. Twenty years ago, it was a different story. While back then many people gathered after a big incident, today you will find far more people witnessing a relatively small incident,” said photographer Naymuzzaman Prince, referring to the subject of one of his works on display at Alliance Francaise de Dhaka (AFD), Dhanmondi.
The photo in question depicts thousands of concerned faces crowding the balconies of a six-storied market. The anxiety writ large on their faces suggests that they are viewing an accident.
Along with 57others, the photo is on display at Prince's ongoing solo exhibition “Bangladesh in a World of Seven Billion”. The exhibition began on October 22 at the La Galerie and Gallery Zoom of AFD.
According to estimates of the United Nations Population Division, the world's population will reach seven billion on October 31, 2011. This global milestone presents a challenge, an opportunity, as well as an urgent call to action. Whether we can live together on a healthy and prosperous planet will depend on the choices we make today.
The exhibition is a part of a global campaign by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to bring the population issue to the foreground.
The aforementioned photograph is an ideal depiction of an overpopulated country such as Bangladesh. But this is not the only issue Prince deals with. He also strives to bring forth the positive and negative aspects of the growth rate of the population.
Prince deals with the crises people usually face due to high growth rates of population. Unplanned urbanisation, maternity heath concerns as well as other health issues in rural areas, early marriage, gender issues, bonding within a family and natural calamity affected areas perceptibly come forth in his photos. As his area of interest is women's rights, many of the photos deal with the issue.
A photo showcases an elderly woman walking on a rural path along with an adolescent, probably her granddaughter. Prince describes the photo as “showing the way to the next generation.”
The photographer chose different places of the country including Dhaka, Sylhet, Cox's Bazar, Kurigram and Satkhira as his locales. Unplanned urbanisation comes forth through a well-taken photo at the Japan Garden City in Dhaka. For the gender issue he went to Cox's Bazar, while he took photos in tea gardens in Sylhet to learn about community health facilities.
All of the exhibited photos are in colour, as Prince said it is his favourite medium. Most of the works are recent.
Prince is one of the first batch students of Pathshala: South Asian Institute of Photography [now Pathshala Media Academy]. At present he is working for Agency Bildenberg-Germany. His works have appeared in national and international publications. His major works include 'Child Cancer', 'Workers of Ship Breaking Yard', 'Life in a Brothel', 'Political Violence', 'Victims of Rwanda Genocide' and 'Cuba-Revolution: Inside Revolution'.
The exhibition, the fifth solo by Prince, will continue till November 3.