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Remember the Dead, Fight for the Living

Documentary photography, for Taslima Akhter, is a continuation of her political activism. As a fiercely courageous student leader she fought for women and worker’s rights. As the coordinator of Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity and vice-president of Nari Samhati, Akhter has to juggle many roles as she continues with her photography. Her seminal work with the victims of the infamous Rana Plaza Fire has won her rare distinction and honour. Her photograph, Final Embrace, of a couple in embrace, even after their death, was selected by Time magazine as one of the ten top images of 2013.

Akhter’s ongoing project is on the garment workers’ life and struggle. In a unique collaboration, the volunteer quilters donate their memories and time to produce the commemorations for their relatives who fell victim to the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse. The quilts are intended to activate a conversation between the relatives of the victims and the public. The quilter-artists hope to raise awareness about the unmitigated injustices garment workers face and their lives at high risk. These works tell a counter-narrative of the collapse and help many Bangladeshi families memorialize their loved ones. They are made up of embroidered text relaying thoughts, emotions, and feelings of the relatives as well as photographs of the victims sewn onto larger quilts donated by the relatives from the victims’ belongings.

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“I don’t want to say that photography is the best medium or that photography is the only way by which one can narrate a story or document an episode. What I can say with conviction is that in our profession of gathering information, sometimes just that one single image capturing a moment of acute emotional outpouring can create a huge impact. The essence of a printed image is that it conveys a story and reveals the history of the moment captured. Simultaneously, the image has the power to communicate and build bridges across communities. It is effective as a tool to build awareness. Sometimes a photograph can create as a big impact as a slogan. I can never forget that terrible night when the tragic episode took place killing hundreds of innocent men and women, the garment workers of Rana Plaza. I think I am the witness to their love, pain, sorrow, strength, and struggle. And I want to use my camera as a tool to tell the story of workers’ lives. I want to tell the stories of the abysmally low wages, pathetic working environment, and trade union issues where the employers are defaulting. I want to document the struggle of the workers and their daily fight for survival. Over the years I have got my zeal to fight alongside the exploited labourers from the workers themselves. I like to think they are beyond the subject of my story or narrative, they are now a part of my life’s mission. The courageous women workers especially who are resilient and brave give me hope, I fight by their side and will continue till we get justice. I would like to remind you that the impoverished garment workers life is not a case in isolation, it is connected with our national economy, with women rights movement, and with our democratic rights. When I am recording these lives, I believe I am documenting their struggle and their indomitable courage. For me, photography is a powerful tool to express my emotions, the deep love I feel for my fellow beings and my anger at the injustice they have to face.” — Taslima Akhter

Taslima Akhter, president of Bangladesh Garment Sromik Samhati (Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity) and photographer is taking a workshop on memorial quilt and memorial handkerchief with Rana Plaza’s victims family and wounded workers. Savar, Bangladesh. 13 April 2018
Selina Akhter, elder sister of missing garment worker Shantona (18), doing embroidery on handkerchief to remember her beloved youngest sister. She has written her personal feeling for her sister on handkerchief. She has written “Want to remember 24th April forever”. Shantona was an operator of Rana Plaza. She died when the collapse happened. Rana Plaza collapse happened on 24th April 2013 and more than 1175 workers died. Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 13 April 2018
Shunno Bala mother of dead worker Shonjeet Das (19) and Shumitra are stitching memorial quilt at Shunnobala’s house at Savar. Shonjeet was an operator of Rana Plaza. He died when the collapse happened. Shumitra was under the rubble for 5 days, she was an operator of Rana Plaza. Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 15 April 2018
Shunno Bala mother of dead worker Shonjeet Das (19) make a memorial quilt and handkerchief. On the quilt with her son’s photo. On the quilt Shunno bala has written ‘Hare krishno hare Ram’ and on the handkerchief ‘Remembering 24th April when the collapse happened 24th April and Sanjeet’. She made these to remember her son. Shonjeet was an operator of Rana Plaza. He died when the collapse happened. Savar, Dhaka. Bangladesh. 18 April 2018
Shunno Bala mother of dead worker Shonjeet Das (19) with the memorial quilt. Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 18 April 2018
Selina Akhter, elder sister of missing garment worker Shantona (18), doing embroidery on memorial quilt. She is stitching her sister’s photo on a small quilt. She is also and embroidering the quilt with her own way to remember her beloved youngest sister. Shantona was an operator of Rana Plaza. She died when the collapse happened. Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. 15 April 2018

Dead worker Fajle Rabbi’s mother Rahela Khatun and dead worker Israfeel’s wife Chiana Behum at Smrity Katha o Kotha Exhibition on 20th April. Rana Plaza, Savar. Dhaka, Bangladesh. 20 April 2018

All images are courtesy of Taslima Akhter.

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About Author

Taslima Akhter was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1974. Before devoting herself entirely to photojournalism and activism, she studied public administration at the University of Dhaka and photography at Pathshala, the South Asian Media Institute in Bangladesh. Akhter’s work has been awarded several international prizes, including Time magazine’s top 10 photos of the year in 2013 and the Best Photographer Award from the 5th Dali International Photography Exhibition in China in 2013. Her work, The Life and Struggle of Garment Workers, won the third prize for documentary photography at the Julia Margaret Cameron Award, and also led to her being selected from the entire South-Asia region for the Magnum Foundation scholarship in 2010. Her images have been exhibited in the United States, China, Germany, and Cambodia. Akhter is currently working as a coordinator of the Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity. As a former president of the Bangladesh Students’ Federation, she is also a lecturer of photojournalism at Pathshala, the South Asian Media Institute in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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