For the love of reading and photography
On the occasion of two years of its founding, Litmosphere, an online book club that provides people a platform to share their love for reading and much more, hosted an exhibition with a difference at Gallery Chitrak this August.
Titled Imbue Presents A Thousand Words, this exhibition shed light on readers who enjoy photography and click beautiful book-themed pictures. Bookstagram, a worldwide community that denotes taking pictures of books for one's Instagram feed, was the central focus of the exhibition, bearing in mind that there are now many Bangladeshi readers who are a part of this community.
Bookworms united to showcase their love for all things literary by framing the beauty of books and the joy of reading. Walking through the beautiful glimpses of books along with simple and sincere book reviews by the same avid readers who took those stunning photographs made for a unique experience for the visitors. With everything from storytelling sessions for kids to open mic sessions, this event was certainly a fun-filled one. The photographs in this exhibition were exclusively by the members of Litmosphere. From over 450 photograph submissions, 30 were selected under the general entry category and 25 were selected under the bookstagram category for the exhibition. Prominent photographers Sazzad Ibne Sayed, Mahmud Hossain and Opu Munem Wasif were the judges. Abir Abdullah, Principal of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, was the chief guest. Tarin Fatema Mithila, Usraat Fahmidah and Daina Chakma were the top three winners in the bookstagram category, while Musaiyyeb Bin Mujib, Afra Anan Saba and Tanjeema Siddiqa were the top three winners in the general entry category. Star Youth, The Daily Star, recently had a conversation with some of the winners, who were proud and happy to be a part of the exhibition.
"The bookstagram community has a wonderful way to encourage each other for the effort they put in their photographs," says Tarin. "I personally enjoy watching the talented people in this community review and post photographs of books they loved and I feel this urge to read the books that I see on their feed." Tarin was left speechless when she received the news about her winning the first prize in the bookstagram category.
There is a lot of creativity that goes behind their book-themed pictures, which can be anything from the book itself to the reader's favourite reading spot at home. "My photographs are taken in the corners of our house. I think it's important to keep them natural," explains Afra. "Before I start reading a book, I like to take a picture of it, especially when I spot any pretty flowers or good lighting."
For these bookworms, Bookstagram is not just a platform to combine their love of reading and photography, but also an opportunity to make many new friends. "I feel great because more people got to know about book photography and the bookstagram community after this exhibition," says Usraat, adding that she got to meet many loving people who share the same interests as her through Bookstagram.
Twingle- Premium Ice-Cream, Navana LPG, BSM LED and OWW Trading & Ship Breaking were the silver sponsors of the event. Star Youth, The Daily Star, was the youth engagement partner of the event.