Published by Scheidegger & Spiess, Zürich, 2017. Hardcover edition of duotone images, with an essay by Prof Philip Ursprung of ETH Zürich and designed by Bruno Margreth.
This collection of images date from the nineties and early two thousands, at a time when Dhaka was experiencing unprecedented growth and change. All photographs were taken on film and are like sketches made in dark alleys or from rooftops, in the dead of night or drenched in monsoon. They show a city undergoing a massive societal shift. ‘Dhaka: Memories or Lost’ could also be described as an assembly of photographs full of mystery and curiosity – a carefully edited selection showing life in a city remembered not in large gestures but in little moments of an indescribable beauty.
In the book Philip Ursprung writes: “As readers of the book, we can follow the transformation of the urban space indirectly, by means of those who are present. There is a melancholic atmosphere in his images, halfway between a nostalgia for what is disappearing and the excitement of things to come.” He further notes: “ The places depicted are neither protected private spaces nor controlled public spaces. They are common spaces that are accessible to all and where common goods such as water, light, air but also language, images, memories, and hopes are shared. It is in these spaces that urban knowledge is formed. Thanks to Kashef Chowdhury’s images we can now access them.”
Photographs by Kashef 