Shahidul Alam | |
|---|---|
| শহিদুল আলম | |
 Shahidul Alam in 2024 | |
| Born | 1955 (age 69–70) |
| Education | Jhenidah Cadet College, University of Liverpool |
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool (BSc) Royal Holloway, University of London (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | Photojournalism, teaching, social rights activism |
| Known for |
|
| Spouse | Rahnuma Ahmed |
| Parents |
|
| Awards | Ekushey Padak (2025) |
Shahidul Alam (born 1955) is aBangladeshi media institution builder, photojournalist, public speaker, storyteller, writer, blogger, curator, and educationist.
Alam foundedDrik Picture Library in 1989,Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in 1998, theChobi Mela International Photography Festival in 1999, andMajority World in 2004.[1] In the early 1990s, Drik's work as an internet provider introduced email to Bangladesh. It also developed the country's first Bangla font for the internet, its firstwebzine, and its first web portal.
Alam's books includeNature's Fury (2007) andMy Journey as a Witness (2011). A photographer for over forty years, his work has been featured in publications worldwide and exhibited at theMuseum of Modern Art (MOMA),Centre Pompidou,Tate Modern,Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, theRoyal Albert Hall, and theKuala Lumpur National Art Gallery. He was also the first Asian to chairWorld Press Photo's International Jury.[2]
Alam has spoken atOxford,Cambridge,Harvard, andStanford universities. In 2001, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of theRoyal Photographic Society.[3] He received theShilpakala Padak from the president of Bangladesh in 2014, the Humanitarian Award from theLucie Awards in 2018, and was named one ofTime magazine'sPersons of the Year that same year. In 2021, he was the recognised as the CASE Humanitarian of the Year. He was awarded theEkushey Padak (culture and education) in 2025.[4]
Alam serves as an advisory board member of theNational Geographic Society and is a National Geographic Explorer at Large.
Kazi Shahidul Alam was born inDacca,East Pakistan (modern-day Dhaka,Bangladesh), in 1955, and grew up inDhanmondi. He is one of three children of physicianKazi Abul Monsur and child psychologistQuazi Anwara Monsur, and belongs to theKazi family ofRajapur inFaridpur District.[5][6]
As a child, Alam was known for navigating Dhaka's congested streets on his small fold-up bicycle.[7] He attendedJhenaidah Cadet College, a military boarding school in western Bangladesh.
Alam pursued his undergraduate studies at theUniversity of Liverpool, where he earned a BSc in biochemistry and genetics in 1976.[8] During his time inLiverpool, he often wore alungi—a traditional South Asian garment—while walking through the streets. His political awareness deepened during this period through his involvement with theSocialist Workers Party.[7]
He later moved to London to pursue a PhD in organic chemistry atBedford College, University of London. It was during his time in London that Alam began to take an active interest in photography. Alongside his doctoral research, he worked as a research chemist, developing alternative photographic printing processes.[9] In 1983, he won the Harvey Harris Trophy from the London Arts Council for one of his photographs—a recognition that boosted his confidence in pursuing a career in photography.[8][7] He completed his PhD the same year.[10]
.jpg)
In 1989, he set upDrik Picture Library, and in 1998,Pathshala South Asian Institute of Photography (later Pathshala South Asian Media Institute) in Dhaka.[11][12] Pathshala "has trained hundreds of photographers".[13][12] Alam founded theChobi Mela International Photography Festival in 1999, the most important and prestigious photography festival in Asia, of which he remains a director.[12][14] Alam set up the South Asian Media Academy.[11]
Alam is among the last to have photographedNelson Mandela. This was during a meeting between ProfessorMuhammad Yunus andMadiba on 10 July 2009, at theNelson Mandela Foundation inJohannesburg.
Alam has covered news events including natural disasters, governmental upheavals, the deaths of garment factory workers, human rights abuses, the Bangladeshi government and military's repression and the "disappearances" of political opponents.[1][13]
He was a member of the jury board ofThe BOBs' award.[15]
Crossfire is a series of photographs taken by Shahidul Alam. The exhibition was curated byJorge Villacorta, a Peruvian art critic, curator, and Alam's colleague. Completed in 2010, it was displayed atDrik Gallery in Dhaka.[16][17] The photographs are scenographies ofextrajudicial killings, widely attributed to Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).[17]
Human Rights Watch has described RAB as a "death squad" due to these reported killings.[18] Established in 2004 as aparamilitary force to combat gangsters and street violence, by late 2007, RAB had already been accused of over 350 extrajudicial killings and the torture of hundreds more.[19]
Citing concerns that the exhibition's focus on extrajudicial killings would "create anarchy," RAB, along with local police, forcibly shut down Drik Gallery before the opening and barricaded the venue, sparking nationwide protests.[20][11][21][22][13][23]
After Drik's lawyers served legal notice on the government, the police barricade was removed. The court's response and subsequent events allowed Drik to open the exhibition for public viewing on 31 March.[24]
.jpg)
On 5 August 2018, journalistDavid Bergman tweeted that Shahidul Alam had been taken from his home inDhanmondi by 30 to 35 plainclothes police officers. This occurred shortly after Alam gave a live interview withAl Jazeera, where he criticized the government's violent response to the2018 Bangladesh road-safety protests, which he had also been documenting through live videos on Facebook.[25][13][26][27]
Alam was believed to have been arrested for saying that the protests "stemmed from anger about widespread government corruption, and not just the bus accident that initially sparked them."[28]
The following morning, Alam was shown arrested by theDhaka Metropolitan Police.[27] Furthermore, he was charged under Section 57 of theInformation and Communication Technology Act and remanded for seven days. Alam told the court that he had been tortured while in police custody.[11][12]
On 7 August, theSupreme Court halted the seven-day remand, and after observing his physical condition, ordered authorities to admit him to a hospital. Alam was taken to a hospital on 8 August at 9 am. However, he was taken back to the office of the Detective Branch of police again at 2 pm on the same day. Alam's lawyer,Sara Hossain, said the case would not stand in court.[29]
After 107 days of imprisonment, Alam was granted bail by theBangladesh High Court and released on 20 November 2018.[30]
Since then, he has challenged the legality of Section 57 of the ICT Act with the Bangladesh Supreme Court after his challenge was rejected by the Bangladesh High Court.[31][32]
Shahidul Alam has recounted some of his experiences of imprisonment in a response to Arundhati Roy's open letter to him while he was in jail.[33][34]
The push for Alam's release was global.Amnesty International and theCommittee to Protect Journalists urged the Bangladeshi government to immediately release Alam without filing charges,[13][35] as did the Mumbai Press Club, Bombay News Photographer Association,[36]Reporters Without Borders,[11]PEN International,[37]Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting,Prince Claus Fund and its network partners, Free Press Unlimited,World Press Photo Foundation,[38][39][40] United Nations human rights experts, and theEuropean Parliament.
Hollywood starSharon Stone posted a letter on Twitter demanding his unconditional release, with signatories includingJimmy Wales.[41] Many of those who signed her letter also endorsed a revised statement issued the following day by theRobert F. Kennedy Human Rights organisation. Signatories to that statement includedArchbishop Desmond Tutu,Shirin Ebadi,Tawakkol Karman,Richard Branson,Richard Curtis,Professor Muhammad Yunus,Óscar Arias Sánchez,José Manuel Ramos-Horta, andGro Harlem Brundtland, amongst others.[42]
A joint statement from leading British artists and curators included signatories such asAnish Kapoor,Akram Khan, andSteve McQueen.[43] A statement released byWorld Press Photo 100 days into Alam's detention was signed byRomila Thapar andSalima Hashmi.[44] Separate statements of support came fromUrvashi Butalia,[45] Faisal Edhi (son ofAbdul Sattar Edhi),[46]Angela Y. Davis,[47][48]Vijay Prashad,Arundhati Roy, andNoam Chomsky.[37][49] Additionally, 426 academics from various universities in Australia called on the government of Bangladesh to release him immediately.[50]
In Dhaka, on October 16, around 100 photographers formed a human chain at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture under the banner of "Shahidul Alam Er Muktir Dabitey Alokchitribrindo".[51]
On the other hand,Sajeeb Wazed, the son of Bangladeshi former Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina, questioned those defending and demanding freedom for Alam in a controversial Facebook post.[52][53]
On 4 March 2019, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police revoked an invitation forArundhati Roy's talk with Shahidul Alam, programmed during the 10th edition ofChobi Mela International Photography Festival. After 24 hours of uncertainty, the organizers of Chobi Mela finally held her talk at an alternative venue.[54][55][56]
On 21 November 2023, authorities from the German cities ofMannheim,Ludwigshafen, andHeidelberg canceled the 10th edition of the Biennale für aktuelle Fotografie, scheduled for March 2024. The decision followed criticism by Shahidul Alam via his social media platforms of Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza following 7 October 2023. The Biennale's board and cultural affairs departments of the three cities labeled his posts as "antisemitic".[57] In agreement with its longstanding sponsor BASF, the Biennale was officially canceled, citing Alam's online activity.[58]
In response, Alam stated that the Biennale had "incorrectly equated" criticism of the project of Israel with antisemitism: "We feel that the failure to draw a distinction between criticism of a government and of a people is irresponsible and damaging to the honesty of public discourse."[59]
In an interview withAl Jazeera, he added, "I am ananti-Zionist, which means I am againstcolonialism,settler colonialism, racism,apartheid, andgenocide. I am not an anti-Semite, and it's most unfortunate that Germany chooses to conflate the two, [as this] serves and furthers thewhite supremacist agenda."[60]
In 2024, Alam returned an honorary doctorate that had been awarded to him by theUniversity of the Arts London in 2022. The reason for his decision is the university's ongoing complicity in Israel's occupation of Palestine.[61][62]
On 27 September 2025, Shahidul Alam became the first Bangladeshi to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international civil society initiative aimed at challenging the Gaza blockade and expressing solidarity with thePalestinian people.[63] The "Media Flotilla"s vessel,Conscience, departed from Italy on 30 September 2025. During the voyage, Alam released video messages reaffirming his commitment to reach Gaza despite potential risks.[64] On 8 October 2025, he was detained byIsraeli forces in international waters. He was released two days later, on 10 October, and subsequently traveled toTurkey.[65][66][67] Shahidul Alam returned to Bangladesh on 11 October 2025.[68]
Festival director for Chobi Mela Shahidul Alam presided.
Media related toShahidul Alam at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
