The name of my city is dust, smoke and life
There is no thinking, no seeing and no living that is not shaped by the infrastructural reality that we live in. As a photographer, what I feel is worth capturing is determined by the concrete and ever-changing reality of the city I live in, Dhaka.
I have been a witness to the urbanisation of this city: how open fields are now filled with multi-storied buildings, and green spaces once now, once filled with catkin flowers, have mutated into an urban jungle.
For us, the Homo sapiens, there is a continuous interaction with nature, which makes us what we are. At the same time, decide what the non-human domain will be like. The influence of nature is in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat and the flow of energy.
Any unmediated intervention or radical change in the environment does not only result in devastating effects but also pose a threat to the human race itself. We do not and, possibly, cannot exist in absolute isolation.
Behind rapid development, which Dhaka is undergoing now, there secretly lies a crucially problematic understanding of our ecosystem.
Dhaka has a legendary past and history. It possesses a distinct 'cultural identity'. Over time, the city has gradually turned into a hub of cultural, political and commercial activities, resulting in rapid population growth. Dhaka is the most populated city in Bangladesh, and it is one of the most densely inhabited cities in the whole world.
Dhaka has a population of 22.48 million as of 2022 and the population density is 23,234 people per square kilometre. At present, Dhaka is going through major infrastructural changes without considering the ecological impact this rapid change is going to cause.
Dhaka's rapid development has created a different problem altogether. It has left a devastating effect on the ecological balance of the environment in and around the city itself.
