When The Mind Says Yes: Daddy’s treasure troves on the walls of Drik

The enlarged self portrait of Daddy with his box camera. Photo: Courtesy Of Drik

Eminent photographer Manzoor Alam Beg fondly addressed pioneer photographer Golam Kashem as ‘Daddy’, for his impeccable contribution to the history of photography in Bangladesh. Although taken aback initially, Golam Kashem embraced the name and became popularly known as ‘Daddy’, ever since.

Celebrating the legendary photographer, Drik has organised When The Mind Says Yes, a special exhibition of his work, in their gallery at Panthapath. The exhibition is curated from Drik’s archive of Daddy’s collection of photographs, curated by A S M Rezaur Rahman.

“Daddy was an incredibly organised person. All his photograph negatives were numbered with the corresponding information,” says Rahman, pointing at small envelopes placed safely on an acrylic covered table at the exhibition. “These are not merely pictures. They provide testaments of our history.”

Photo: Monon Muntaka

The series of photographs on display provide a fascinating glimpse of the history and people of Bengal. Along with Giclée prints of Daddy’s photographs, the exhibition offers glass plates, books, an autobiography, and personal letters that allow the audience to explore the photographer’s life intimately. The enlarged self portrait of Daddy with his box camera highlights his personality quite well. A portrait of a girl on a chair is the exhibition’s oldest photograph from the archive, dating back to 1918.

A sub-registrar by profession, Daddy began his practice of photography in 1912. In 1963, he founded the Camera Recreation Club that includes legendary members such as poet Sufia Kamal, painter Quamrul Hassan and photographer Manzoor Alam Beg. He also authored three books on photography. In his writings, he advised young photographers not to shy away from photography in the absence of expensive gear. He wrote, “I’ve used a range of cameras. The cheapest ones can give great results if taken care of and the expensive cameras can fail if not handled properly.” All his life, he passionately talked about how photography was the way for people to make friends and break barriers. He is also one of the earliest Bengali Muslim short story writers from Bangladesh. His writings were published in the leading Bangla literary journal, Saogat.

When The Mind Says Yes is open to all till March 25, every day from 10 am to 8 pm.