10 Feet by 10 Feet

I migrated to Dhaka in 2011 in pursuit of higher education. In the last two years, I have made a home for myself in Rayerbazar, near the Mohammadpur Beribadh area. Everyday, I witness my home inch closer and closer to becoming a barren and comfortless dystopia in the name of development. As infinite buildings are erected, a mountain of waste piles up, destroying rivers and causing pollution. Our economic growth looks good on paper, but the reality shows a different picture. In my community, a group of working class people, responsible for the city's maintenance, live in misery and dejection. They came to the city seeking a better life, longing to escape the destitution they have always known. Instead, they found themselves caught in the same poverty trap they yearned to escape. Neglected and forgotten by the government, they settled into a familiar life of poverty and hunger. 10 Feet by 10 Feet, inspired by a song of Kabir Suman, is a visualisation of that suffocation and hardship. Living amidst them, I was moved to document the lives of these quiet and tormented servants of elite society.