Who are You? Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am Md. Enamul Kabir from Bangladesh. I was born in the district of Narail, then grew up in a town called Kotchandpur, Jhinadah. It’s a small but beautiful town. Now I live and work in the capital city: Dhaka.
I wish I could leave my job and travel around the world. But you will not get everything that you wish for in one life. I believe it is very important to become a good human-being rather than attaining greatness as a photographer.
What was the trigger, or inspiration, that led to your taking up photography?
Never did I imagined that I’d be walking around with a camera, stopping at irregular intervals, snapping photos left and right. I never had any interest in photography.
At the end of 2012, I was unemployed and struggling to find a job. The local photography club used to make quite a lot of field trips. I’d tag along, visiting different places, mostly to kill time. I was actually hoping someone would take a good portrait of me that I could use that on my FB profile.
One fine evening on such a photo-walk, I took a snap with my phone, just for fun. The scene was so serene and beautiful that it grabbed my senses by the balls. Dr. Asim Saha, one of the nicest human beings I ever met, kept motivating me to take photos. Later, I met a photographer named Imtiaz Alam Beg, whose words inspired me to get behind the lens. Now, I can’t take my eye off the viewfinder, it seems.
What do you hope to communicate or describe with your work?
Truly speaking, I do not have any plans. Uniqueness is often referred to as style, which is something that comes naturally and cannot be forced. In photography, it is a personal statement. It is how one sees the world.
I enjoy taking photos. I go everywhere and shoot everything, from people to animals. A photograph can happen anywhere at any given moment. Sometimes it depends on my mood. I prefer the tranquillity of silence to crowded places.
I don’t allow the editor in my head to take the lead and instead let the photographer in me instinctively ‘feel’ the frame to freeze. It has been almost five years since I started shooting, and I still feel like a child who doesn’t know much about the world and find it an exciting place.
I prefer my photos to be concise and cohesive. I try to achieve the best result possible with fewer subjects. You can call it a minimalist approach, although my photos usually aren’t minimalistic in the traditional sense. It is a practice of aligning and arranging the subjects and elements, instinctively, to arrive at a visual harmony.
I feel the urge to keep on learning and grow as a photographer. Good friends like Rammy Narula, Indrajit Khambe and many more around the world have helped me along the way by exchanging our views and thoughts on photography.
Has your relationship with photography changed over time, and if so, how?
Yes, it has changed. Like a child who keeps falling down yet stands up every time and learns how to walk, then run, swim, and ride a bike, my horizons have broadened over time. I began as a street photographer hunting for form and moments in individual images, then started working on specific themes and motifs. I like various types of photography, yet unposed candid moments are closer to my heart.
Please select 5 of your photos and talk about how they came to be and how they reflect your working methods.
During the Chobimela festival of 2017, I noticed Dougie Wallace was moving around here, and without any hesitation I approached him for an artist talk under the banner of the Insight Collective, of which I was one of the founding members. During his talk, I learnt how to get really close to any animal. One evening, I was shooting at Beauty Boarding in Old Dhaka, one of the oldest gathering places of Bangladeshi artists. I noticed these two dogs. They were so adorable that I just could not resist myself to play with them. After a few minutes, they forgot about me, and I start shooting them from at a very close distance. I took 60+ photos and finally chose this one in the edit, which to me represents love and anger.
I like intense weirdness. It was Eid time. Most Dhaka residents leave the city during the Eid vacation to celebrate with loved ones at their respective hometowns. Due to such a rush, a lot of the passengers travel on the rooftops of the trains. If one is lucky enough to get a seat reserved, it is an ordeal to reach the seat. This gentleman was waiting to enter the train, but couldn’t get to the door. I had my full camera gear on me, topped with the flash setup. He looked at me. I turned aside so that he can could feel comfortable with what he wanted to do. Suddenly, I turned around and started shooting. Sometimes, backs are not boring 😉.
I was visiting an animal shelter in Naraynganj, a port city close to Dhaka, to interview the owner of the shelter. More than 40+ cats and 10+ dogs live there. Unfortunately, she was not there on that day, but I thought I should at least visit the place. I was moving around the house and entered her bedroom. The paintings, stickers, old photographs on the wall all attracted me. So, I was trying to take a photo of the wall to portray the place. Suddenly, the cat jumped from the top of the Almira, it was beyond my imagination. Each time I see this image, it reminds me of the photo of Dali.
A good photo can happen anywhere, any time. You just need to feel it, see the photo coming and be ready to take the photo. I was traveling to a place called Kankavli in India with one of my very good friends, Indrajit Khambe. I love traveling through India. Kankavli is one of my most favorite places where I want to go again and again just to take in the fragrance of the grass, to enjoy the beauty of moonlight, and to hear the roar of the running water. Indrajit, Nitin, Abhijeet and I went swimming at the river. I was hesitant to get in the water as I don’t know how to swim. All on a sudden, Indrajit dove in. I ran to take the photo. This is one of my favorite photos as it reminds me of the place and shows the coexistence between humans and nature.
I was heading out of Kankavli with my friends. We stopped for a break at Vengurla. Indrajit was buying fish for his family. We noticed the elephant beside the sea and start shooting. I probably took 35 photos there but was left unsatisfied, so, I left the place and started enjoying the sea view. Suddenly, I noticed the woman standing alone. I practically jumped in joy and started working the scene. I cannot explain it in details, but this image looks like a poem to me.