A burnt face in a photograph, so disfigured that it is barely recognisable, will make your hair stand at the first glance. The deformed eyes would flood your mind with questions- ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of the misfortune. It would not have been possible to identify that this is a face of a female had she not been wearing a golden nose pin. The story of the poor unidentified woman ended tragically with her death, but her nose pin still glitters though, to perhaps whisper of the little wishes and desires that got buried with her. The victim was one of the 117 garment workers at the fire that broke out at Tazreen Fashion factory on November 24, 2012.
The photograph is one of the 33 moving images at the solo photography exhibition titled Death Trap by noted photographer Abir Abdullah at the La Galerie at Alliance Française de Dhaka in Dhanmondi. Abdullah has showcased the images of different fire accidents and their victims since 2005.
‘Most of the fire disasters are caused by human negligence,’ asserted Abir Abdullah who added that he took the photographs to raise awareness among people regarding fire to help reduce such accidents. Abdullah has documented devastating fire accidents including those of Niltoli slum, Agargaon slum, Bashundhara Garden City and also the Tazreen Fashion garment factory.
Along with the ruins of fire, Abdullah has also captured the strength of general people and the fire fighters in combating the calamities and saving lives. In one of the photographs, a fire fighter is seen risking his life while battling with the horrifying blaze and black smoke with the help of a water hosepipe at Tazreen fire.
The desperation of people affected by fire accidents have been depicted through a woman from the slums who has been captured through Abdullah’s lenses while she was salvaging useful commodities from the ashes of her burned down shanty in the Nimtoli fire in 2010.
Helicopter rescuing people from the roof of Bashundhara Garden City was also framed by Abdullah on March 9, 2009, the day when the top floors of the shopping complex were damaged by the fire.
The thought-provoking exhibition led visitors to think about the horrific consequences of fire accidents that could have been prevented with precautions.
The exhibition was jointly inaugurated by Nurul Kabir, editor of daily New Age, and Khushi Kabir, coordinator of Nijera Kori, who were present as the guests of honour on April 10. Noted photographer Shahidul Alam and Olivier Litvine, director of Alliance Française de Dhaka, were also present at the programme. In his speech, Nurul Kabir said that such exhibitions remind us about the incidents we should not forget about. Khushi Kabir, on the other hand, called upon everyone to be more aware about fire accidents.
The exhibition will remain open for all from 12:00 to 8:00 pm till April 24.
-With New Age input
