Source: COURTESY

Bangladeshi Photographers (BP) is a community of photographers that was started in September 2005 as an online group in Flickr by Mohammad Raqibul Hasan. “Bangladesh has a lot of talent in this field. I recognised that a long time ago, but I could not find a way to physically connect all of them together as a lot of them lived abroad. I thought of starting an online community to get all the BP members connected to each other. I knew that once the idea exchanging would begin, the photography arena in our country would change forever, and so it has,” says Mohammad Raqibul Hasan. The project of BP was initially thought of by Hasan, who soon turned to two more photographers for help. Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo, Mohammad Moniruzzaman and Mohammad Raqibul Hasan turned BP into the first online photography based community.

Eventually, the group evolved and had more of a cross-platform approach. During the last few years, BP has actively organised exhibitions, competitions and community meet-ups, while its online platforms in Flickr and Facebook continue as constant support for beginners, advanced photographers and also hobbyists. It currently has over 40,000 members (and counting), including the founders and 20 moderators.

“For a teenager who could not even operate a camera, being able to know and be connected to the veteran photographers of Bangladesh was very inspiring and helpful,” says 21-year-old Ata Islam Khan Mojlish, Head of Communications and Moderator, who had started off at the age of 15.

On World Photography Day, BP has a lot to boast about, with some of the most influential exhibitions held for young photographers. 'Globalisation: A Bipolar Story' was their joint endeavour with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). There is also “BP (BP) Challenge”, which challenges photographers to compete with their best images. The best photographs are awarded with cash prizes. “Humans of Bangladesh” is a project of BP which aims to express the many different stories of people living in Bangladesh. Inspired by the project 'Humans of New York', BP has created the platform for many photographers working together, via simple portraits and a small write ups. “SIDR Aid exhibition and Exhibition for Samudra Gupta” was organised at the Russian Cultural Centre to support the victims of Cyclone Sidr in remote parts of the country. In February, the same exhibition was continued at the Fine Arts Institute of Dhaka University to aid in the treatment of poet Samudra Gupta. Many more exhibitions and competitions have been held by them, both for charity or raising awareness, and to inspire photographers.

BP has successfully become the ultimate influence in many photographers' lives and is continuing to do so. “I founded BP with the others when I was only 14 years old," says Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo. "Since then, it has been like a home to me. Through BP, I experienced my first achievements and success. Now, after 9 years, I believe that there is no way I could have become what I have, as a photographer and a person, if it was not for the organisation.”