Death is more often than not a staple requirement to qualify something as tragedy. But when the death toll passes well over the figure of a thousand, that too, not in a war, the word ‘catastrophic’ is perhaps a more apt choice.
The collapse of Rana Plaza, an eight-storey building housing a number of apparel factories, on April 24, 2013, is nothing short of a catastrophe.
Though ours is a nation of forgetters, the specter of that catastrophe did not disappear from collective memory, so powerful was its aftermath.
This is testified in the ongoing three-day photography exhibition at TSC Bot Tala in front of Suhrawardy Udyan where 60 photographers from different media, who photographed the catastrophe, have showcased around 80 stills of death and disaster, hope and despondency, love and loss.
Titled ‘Aftermath: Rana Plaza’, the photographs seem to present before visitors the unsolvable math of pawning life and gaining profit.
Two frames, side by side, one of attires with price tags and the other where dead bodies are kept in a row- should do the math of Rana Plaza tragedy.
The displayed frames have a saddening effect as many of them are close captures of dead bodies, seemingly grey from lying under the rubble. The summoning hand of one of the dead, in one frame, is sure to strike a chord in the hearts of visitors.
The blank expression and numb look of a rescued female survivor, in another one, might also make the visitor uncomfortable while trying to imagine what could be going on in the victim’s mind, calm acceptance or denial in shock.
Other frames such as the frenzied rescuers, wailing relatives of victims, rows of dead bodies and graves, are harshly reminiscent of the catastrophe.
Many of the participating photographers shared their experience with New Age. ‘I have been working as a photojournalist for more than four years. This is both my passion and profession. But I only hope not to photograph such a catastrophe. The scene and stink of death still haunts me’, said Sony Ramany, a photographer.
Inaugurated on Wednesday by William Hanna, EU ambassador to Bangladesh, the exhibition will be open till 8pm today.
-With New Age input
