Alexia Foundation 2013 – Abir Abdullah: 1st Prize Professional
Abir Abdullah has worked on the endless fires that devastate Dhaka and its population. Safety measure are so inadequate that flames engulf the city with terrifying speed. The working class is the most affected, either in the factories where they work for substandard pay, or when their houses burned down and they lose everything they own, however little it may be.
Abdullah’s photographs contain the visual elements of this injustice. We see groups of people fleeing from massive, lifeless sheets of metal as they come crashing down on men and earth.
In one photograph, a burst of flames flares back against the gushing water, the two elements pitched against each other in an illustration of social distress. On another photo, thick clouds of smoke, ashes, sparks of fire and dust cause confusion.
The drama is intense: dismembered bodies, faces stricken with fear, sadness and death. The expression on the charred remains of a woman, looking like a Herculanum mummy with her mouth filled with dust a symbol of the ongoing tragedy.
Laurence Cornet
