Anwar Hossain

Anwar Hossain's work arrived at a time when Bangladeshi photography was divided into two camps. The salon school produced formulaic images designed to win contests. Most press photographers, content to play second fiddle to the writers, provided images that filled the empty box above a pre-determined caption. Neither group saw themselves as authors. Photography itself had low esteem and was perceived as a basic craft. The photographers played to someone else's tune. Their images rarely sang and never did they dance. Hossain's work, dynamic in their composition, provocative in their form, vocal in their expression, became the fault line in this comfortable space. Anwar's characters were not …