It is the winning image of a food photography contest, but there is not a meal in sight. Instead, child refugees stand in a row with empty bowls in their hands.
Taken by documentary photographer KM Asad, the image entitled After Exodus captures Rohingya children in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh, as they queue to receive food from a non-profit. The image is from 2017, the year when the Rohingya crisis was thrust back into the global spotlight after at least 500,000 individuals fled violence from Myanmar to Bangladesh in the span of a month.
Last month, Asad's image was recognised as the overall winner for Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year awards in the UK, selected among 9,000 entries from more than 70 countries. The photographer, who lives and works in Dhaka, will receive £5,000 (Dh22,980) as prize.
Asad says he has had his eye on the major photography award for the past two years. When Pink Lady added the category of Politics of Food, which looks at issues such as production, sustainability and hunger, Asad believed that his image could resonate. “Every corner of the world, there are people waiting for food. It’s very important to show how food is related to politics,” he says.
The plight of the Rohingyas – a Muslim ethnic minority in Myanmar – is one that Asad has been following for years. In 2012, he accompanied a friend to the south-east of Bangladesh and began documenting the influx of refugees there. A sliver of river called the Naf separates the two countries, and the Rohingya, driven out by Myanmar’s army, brave crossing it to seek safety.
Their conditions in Bangladesh, however, remain dire.
“I could not believe this was happening to people. Thousands of people came, women and children,” Asad says about his series from 2017. “I’ve seen children die on the road after they cross the river. So many problems happened there. And now, I want to see where they will be settled."
Asad's photographs capture human struggle, from displacement to modern slavery and calamities. Graduating in 2008 from the photography school of Dhaka’s renowned Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, Asad’s concern for social issues took root when he was still a student. In 2007, he, along with fellow aspiring photographers, documented the devastating aftermath of Cyclone Sidr in the district of Khulna. “We found dead bodies in the fields and forests. After taking the photographs and publishing them, the village people got food. Some of my friends from Dhaka brought food by boat and gave them to the villagers,” he says.
“This gave me strength. This made me feel that maybe my pictures helped the people. After this, I decided to focus on human issues. In Bangladesh, we need to focus on these problems because there are so many.”
Bearing witness to tragedies such as the collapse of Rana Plaza in 2013, Asad shares the grief of the victims while revealing the magnitude of government oversight in Bangladesh. Located in Savar, outside the capital Dhaka, Rana Plaza was a commercial building that housed shops, banks and garment factories. Deep cracks had begun to appear in the structure, and while the shops and banks vacated, the factory workers were still told by their managers to go in. The next day, the building collapsed within 90 seconds, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and maiming others for life.
“It was very hard for me. I saw people die in front of me,” says Asad, whose haunting monochrome photos of the incident document the wreckage and the rescue efforts. He also followed the stories that happened after – the funerals and the rehabilitation of the workers.
Among his other projects is Angels with Broken Wings, which contains images of child labourers toiling away in shipyards by the Buriganga River. Melting iron and welding steel, the children work in unsafe conditions with no protective gear.
“It’s very tough to take these pictures, but I try to tell myself that I need to do it. Someone needs to do it,” he says. “After taking the pictures, when I select the images, this is when it gets even tougher for me, because I recall all the situations. I tell myself, I need to find strength, I just try my best and I tell myself to give passion to my work”.
Asad's images have featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Time and also the cover of National Geographic magazine in August 2019.
Now, amid the coronavirus pandemic and Bangladesh’s strict lockdown measures, Asad finds himself with fewer assignments to cover. He also worries about risking exposure of the virus to his elderly parents, who live with him.
Still, he has managed to start a new series of portraits entitled Can Covid-19 Stop the Wheel?, which explores the conditions of rickshaw drivers as the outbreak endangers their livelihoods. These cycle rickshaws often crowd and clog Dhaka's streets, but the pandemic has left them with quieter roads and fewer passengers. Their stories echo much of what the global poor are facing – staying at home means failing to earn money for food or medicine.
In his photographs of the drivers' mask-clad faces, Asad once again turns his lens to the heart of any social issue: the people.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Fernando Jara (jockey), Irfan Ellahi (trainer).
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh90,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Momtaz, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
6pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 1,400m
Winner: Yaalail, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship Listed (PA) Dh180,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,600m
Winner: Dahess D’Arabie, Fernando Jara, Helal Al Alawi.
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 2.200m
Winner: Ezz Al Rawasi, Connor Beasley, Helal Al Alawi.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EShaffra%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDIFC%20Innovation%20Hub%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Emetaverse-as-a-Service%20(MaaS)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Ecurrently%20closing%20%241.5%20million%20seed%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20different%20PCs%20and%20angel%20investors%20from%20Saudi%20Arabia%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enine%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company%20Profile
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Company%20profile
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The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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more from Janine di Giovanni
Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWest%20Asia%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Bahrain%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Premiership%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Jebel%20Ali%20Dragons%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%201%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%20Harlequins%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20Division%202%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%20III%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Sharks%20II%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDubai%20Sevens%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EChampions%3A%20Dubai%20Tigers%0D%3Cbr%3ERunners%20up%3A%20Dubai%20Hurricanes%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
RESULTS
6.30pm: Handicap (rated 95-108) US$125,000 2000m (Dirt).
Winner: Don’t Give Up, Gerald Mosse (jockey), Saeed bin Suroor (trainer).
7.05pm: Handicap (95 ) $160,000 2810m (Turf).
Winner: Los Barbados, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
7.40pm: Handicap (80-89) $60,000 1600m (D).
Winner: Claim The Roses, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.15pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (Div-1) Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D)
Winner: Gold Town, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
8.50pm: Cape Verdi Group 2 $200,000 1600m (T).
Winner: Promising Run, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.25pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Conditions $100,000 1,400m (D).
Winner: El Chapo, Luke Morris, Fawzi Nass.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECVT%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E119bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E145Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh%2C89%2C900%20(%2424%2C230)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now