Mohammad Moniruzzaman | The Spellbinders

Photo © Mohammad Moniruzzaman-All Rights Reserved

Here's The Spellbinders, a series of photograph depicting the traditional circus troupes in Bangladesh, which were once the major entertainment attractions during the rural fairs or melas in this South Asian nation.

With the advent (and in some areas, proliferation) of other forms of modern entertainment modes, such as television and movie theaters, as well as encroaching urbanization, the traditional circus troupes are facing an uphill struggle to survive. According to the photographer,  In 2011, there was only 6 or 7 circus troupes available, and since then, a few more have closed down their operations. 

I don't really know what the situation is for Bangladeshi circus troupes, but in India these are often accused of illegally employing Nepalese girls, and often being fronts for sex trafficking.

Mohammad Moniruzzaman is a Bangladeshi photographer involved in image making since 2007. A photographer by passion and a microbiologist by profession, he moved to the United States to obtain a PhD degree in microbiology. 

Kauser Haider | A Hall Full of Cinema

Photo © Kauser Haider-All Rights Reserved

The Manoshi Cinema Hall in Old Dhaka is a 70+ year old crumbling old building with torn plaster walls and decrepit chairs. It features three shows a day; mostly of action films that appeal to lower income segments of Dhaka's population. Mingling with genuine cinema buffs, are drug addicts, prostitutes and other similar denizens of this capital city, while its staff of about 25 work around the clock to operate the obsolete machinery needed to project the films.

Kauser Haider is the photographer who brings us A Hall Full of Cinema. It has been featured on various blogs, but it was nominated as a 2012 Photostory choice. A well deserved accolade for such a visually interesting subject. Brilliant and very large photographs!

Kauser Haider is a Bangladeshi documentary photographer who prefers to work with social issues, humanitarian focus, and travel photography . He enrolled in Pathshala South Asian Media Academy for BA in Photography, and subsequently participated in various international workshops conducted by Philip Blenkinsop, Shannon Lee Castleman, Shorab Hura, Abir Abdullah and Munem Wasif.

A Hall Full of Cinema was exhibited internationally in Angkor photo festival and Delhi Photo festival .  

Amy Helene Johansson: A Lost Revolution?

"My heart is beating for this project and it would be wonderful if as many people as possible see it and get enlightened about the situation. " -Amy Helene Johansson

Prior to the boom in the garment industry, almost no women in Bangladesh worked outside of their family or marital homes, and had few opportunities to earn money. However today, the female garment workers are the backbone of the Bangladeshi economy in an industry that generates billions of dollars each year. It should be a women’s revolution, but is it?

While academics and economists agree to some extent that Bangladeshi women are in the midst of a revolution, they are still not empowered financially or socially. And are not strong enough to demand a fair remuneration. Multinational companies such as Nike, Levi Strauss and H&M are generally unaware of the life situation of sewing machine operators; their housing conditions, family structures, and food provisions.

Amy Helene Johansson is a photojournalist who studied film and theatre theory before earning a BA in fashion design. However, after a decade of working for H&M as a fashion designer, she discovered photography. Her work has been published in leading broadsheets and magazines in the UK and Sweden, including the Sunday Times UK, Dagens Nyheter and Sydsvenska Dagbladet. Her work has been awarded Asian Geographic Magazine ‘Faces of Asia Award’, the Foundry Emerging Photojournalist Award and the Swedish Picture Of the Year ‘Multimedia Category’ and been shortlisted for ELLE commission award and a National Geographic award.

She's also a Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (Manali, India and Istanbul) alum. A Lost Revolution was produced in collaboration with the Bombay Flying Club. 

Miguel Candela: Living In Darkness

Photo © Miguel Candela-All Rights Reserved

“If I could go to another place, marry someone who would know nothing about my past, maybe I could escape this shame that I feel”

In Bangladesh, on the banks of the Padma River, is Faridpur. It is here that the largest brothels in the country thrive. The sex workers have usually been kidnapped by gangs, sold by their families or step families or tricked with promises of good jobs. It's estimated that there are 100,000 women selling sex in Bangladesh despite Muslim strictures on sex outside marriage.

Brothels: Living In Darkness is a photo essay by Miguel Candela, a Spanish documentary photographer currently based in Hong Kong.

One of the most touching captions underneath an equally compelling image of a sad young woman is this "Society has forced them to live in darkness while men love them and hate them in equal measure, demanding their services while trying to get rid of them permanently."

Miguel Candela is interested in documenting the human drama of life, and to that end has traveled extensively to various countries in order to photo-document the people and their community way of life in Mali, Kenya, the Philippines, Bangladesh and across China, and in his current base of operations in Hong Kong.

His photographs have been published in CNN, CNNGo, South China Morning Post (SCMP), Grupo Vocento, Piel de Foto, La Voz de Galicia among others.