Through the Lens
Photo: Shakila Sultana
There goes a saying -"A picture is worth a thousand words." By believing in this statement Faisal Azim has successfully told the world his stories through his lens. What started out as a hobby made him one of the most renowned upcoming photographers in our country. His way of storytelling has been praised around the world and won him awards such as 'Atkins City Shape Award', ' 75th Japan Asahi', '7th Emirates Photography Competition' and many more. The picture Faisal took on a foggy Chittagong morning of three gravel workers behind a glass resembled a painted picture describing the essence of labour life. It recently won him second place in the 'National Geographic Traveller Photo contest 2015'.
Born and brought up in Chittagong, Azim started brushing up his creative skills through his paintings. "I was very much into drawing when I was a child. People would always find me with a pencil and paper," says Azim. It was after he was influenced by his uncle Shoeb Faruqee that Azim took up photography as a hobby. "I remember taking a couple of my mother's portraits which triggered my passion. When the pictures came out I felt that this was the perfect way to express myself and soon the pencil dropped and I took on the camera."
Though he worked in a corporate office after he graduated from Chittagong University, he was always thinking about photography. "After working for a year, I didn't have any time to pick up a camera. I missed it so badly that I quit my job and took photography as a full time profession," says Azim. Since then he has been teaching photography at the Photo Art Institute for the last three years and works for a photo agency named Photo Bank Gallery.
Azim has grown a soft spot for documentary photography and thinks this is the best way anyone can tell a story. As many people are now taking up photography as a profession, he says to them, "Don't think about the gears, getting chances or anything else. Just go out on the field and start clicking."
Right now Faisal Azim has a lot of projects in his hands and is really excited about one of them "I will be leaving for America soon to shoot wild life photography in the Yellow Stone Park with a Nat Geo Photographer. This is a lifetime opportunity and it actually proves that dreams do come true," says Azim.
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