Tag: dhaka

Published in The Weekend Independent Magazine, May 2010 In January this year, a young Romanian woman called Ruxandra boarded a flight bound for Dhaka, Bangladesh.  The temperature in Bucharest that day was minus 22 degrees and the flight had been delayed due to heavy snowfall.  Ruxandra had travelled to Dhaka many times over the last […]

Published in The Weekend Independent Magazine, May 2010 On 4 September 2008, three friends were returning to Dhaka from Gazipur in a taxi.  It was around 9.30pm and the streets were deserted.  The young men had spent the day visiting a site where they planned to build a factory. Their conversation naturally turned to discussing […]

Thousands of frustrated garment workers took to the streets of Dhaka’s Gulshan area this morning to protest against the government setting a minimum monthly salary of Tk 3,000 (US$43). The rioting began at 9am and lasted around an hour.  At least 50 shop fronts have been smashed by rocks.  Police estimate that between 5,000 and […]

These photographs were taken during a mime carnival in Dhaka in July 2010.  The carnival was funded by Grameenphone, who announced their intention to establish Bangladesh’s first  mime academy, to be led by renowned mime artist, Partha Prathim Majumder.  Partha stars in the first commercial depiction of mime in Bangladesh – a series of advertisements promoting Grameen’s ‘value-added […]

Published in The Weekend Independent Magazine, May 2010 When I first allowed someone to test their psychic powers on me I was in the southern Chinese city of Guilin. It was 2006. The fortune teller was very old, completely blind and his left arm was severed at the elbow. Communicating the predictions was a team […]

The Weekend Independent Magazine, 11 June 2010 Jessica Mudditt Amongst the kaleidoscope of national flags dotting Dhaka’s skyline in preparation for the World Cup, I’ve not seen a single Australian one. Not that it ever occurred to me to look—everyone knows that Australia is no football heavyweight. When one of my Bangladeshi friends politely asked […]

Ashura in Dhaka was the most intense event I’ve ever photographed. For the first half hour I couldn’t even look through the view finder because I was too overwhelmed – and also trying to make sure that I didn’t get flicked by a knife.  There were large crowds, which heaved backwards (insofar as it was possible) […]