Misshapen photos in ID cards disappoint voters
A prospective voter poses for photograph for his national ID card at a centre recently.Photo: STAR
Inclusion of photo ID cards in the process of voter listing was one of the main reasons people were enthusiastic about the project but now many are not happy with their photographs taken for the ID cards.
Until February 18 this year, 34,42,504 people were photographed for national ID cards in the city, said sources at the Election Commission.
Many prospective voters said their faces became deformed and went wide in the photo. Some alleged that their faces were distorted to such an extent that they could not even recognise their own visages.
“I could not recognise my face when the operator took my photo. He tried in many ways to take a good photo but it didn't work. I took off my sweater but still it didn't work. Then I felt pity on him and said it's ok for me but I was looking like a bald man to say the least,” said Swapan, a service holder.
“I was looking like a football,” said Sultana M Chisty, a businesswoman.
“My image was blurry and I was looking like a ghost,” said Parveen Ahmed, a retired schoolteacher, with a dejected look in her face.
“I cannot blame anyone if someone says that it is not your picture. I'm fortunate that I have other ID cards to substantiate my claim. What about those who will have only one ID card?” said Shahed, a jobholder, who recently took delivery of his ID card.
According to photographers, the round shaped lens of web cams and absence of adequate training in their operation were the reason for distorted images.
“I went to take photo for ID card with much enthusiasm but when the operator took my picture my nose and beard became inflated and my eyes were looking like beads,” said Amir, a professional photographer.
“When I told the operator about the distortion, he said - 'Brother, don't get emotional. Taking photos is just a rule. You are not going to a cinema audition with this picture,” he said expressing disappointment.
“It happened mainly because of the spherical lens of the web cam. There are some basic photographic rules. The light should not be overhead which creates shadow under eyes, nose and lips. But many of them used the light overhead and did not use flash so the images looked like apparitions,” Amir said.
“The colour of the skin is also distorted as the skin tone is not maintained because of the wrong exposure of light,” he added.
Some questioned the purpose of the photo on the ID card if that is not taken properly.
“The purpose of photo cannot be served if the photo is out of shape or the person cannot be recognised from it,” said Nazneen, a young service holder.
Use of web cams and computer operators taking photos without the knowledge of basic photography rules were the two main reasons for out-of-shape photos, said high officials and operators at the EC.
A student, who worked as a team leader in the voters' data collection process in the city, said, “The reasons behind shapeless photos are cheap web cams and operators who are not photographers.”
“A web cam costs around Tk 1,700 while a digital camera costs at least Tk 12,000. We need a bigger budget for nice photos,” he said.
“We also faced problems while taking finger prints. Mostly those who work hard using hands and fingers such as housewives and day labourers had faded fingerprints,” he said.
Asked, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Shakhawat Hossain said that anyone unhappy with their photos can replace those when national registration authority takes over the job.
“The national registration authority will start its work after EC's work is over in July-August. They will set up stations in every district. The authority will take effect in maximum one month. If anyone wants a higher security card, then he can have it,” he said.
“People are free to replace their photos but it will be very difficult for us to take photos anew now because we are burdened with work to finish the job in time,” he said.
Admitting the fact of using web cams and young and poorly trained operators, Brig Shakhawat said the EC has some limitations in preparing voter ID cards.
Mentioning the limitations of funds, he said, “We have recruited around 80,000 young men and women, mostly students, for data collection, operating computers and other jobs. They are not trained photographers and it is not possible to recruit such a huge number of photographers.”
“Besides, photographers would not agree to work with the honorariums we are paying to the students,” he added.
About not using digital cameras or normal ones, Shakhawat said, “There are also some technical glitches in using digital or normal cameras because the web cams are connected with the software we are using for preparing ID cards.”
“Besides, there is the money factor as the digital cameras are quite expensive. The ID cards are free of charge. How many of us can pay for the high-resolution digital cameras?” he said.
Until now around 40 million people have been photographed across the country, he said.
About those who are confused over recognising their photos, the election commissioner said, “I think it won't be much problem because every ID card will carry a voter number.”
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