Shadman Shahid's 'No Quarter' awarded

Photo: Courtesy

 Bangladesh's promising young photographer Shadman Shahid recently won 'The Emerging Photographer Fund 2018' award by the prestigious Burn Magazine making his room in a list of 11 photographers chosen from all over the globe.

Shadman, a master's student of photography and society at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, won $ 10,000 for his essay, No Quarter, which speaks about the victims of domestic violence in Bangladesh. It takes the form of a docu-fiction about Alo and Sagor, a couple who have been in an abusive relationship for more than 20 years. “No Quarter is based on the many interviews that I took of Alo, who got married at the age of 15 to a man twice her age. The abuse in their relationship started right after their first daughter was born,” says Shadman. “Her husband would beat her up whenever she disagreed with him, complained about anything or even just spoke to another man. I have visualised a docu-fictional album using pictures from their actual family album and staged images based on the memories that Alo shared with me.” The names of the people involved are changed and their faces hidden in the docu-fiction.

Shadman further opened up about the reasons he chose a topic like domestic violence for his project. “Many female victims of domestic violence are further maltreated when the news goes public or when they seek justice while their perpetrators walk around freely abusing more women,” he says. “We, as a society, need to emphasise on this issue as much as we can, until there is an end to it.”

Launched in December 2008, Burn Magazine is an evolving journal for emerging photographers and is curated by Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey. “Receiving this accolade by Burn Magazine has filled me with immense pride and joy. It is a source of motivation and validation that will help me grow as an artiste,” says Shadman.