Blue Fig by Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Art is a mirror or reflection of a moment and place in time. Art can critique and dwell on political or social standings. 

For the past century avant-garde fashion has treated the themes concerning societies that have surpassed industrialization and enlightenment. The likes of Chanel, Saint Laurent or Tom Ford stand for the female emancipation and for the androgyne changes in society.

Named designers’ ‘moment and place in time’ does not represent or reflect every artiste’s ‘moment and place in time’. The vast social and political differences in the global political landscape results in artists being affected by different themes that their society is affected by.

With digitization and globalization, Art can be used as a medium to draw attention from a global audience to a local social or political concern.

Bangladeshi photographer Mohammad Rakibul Hasan uses Art – his photography, to capture his ‘moment and place in time’, and to draw attention to his society’s hardships.

Hasan has dedicated himself to humanitarian causes. The Bangladeshi’s photography does not only depict, but also draws attention to issues certain groups within societies are faced with.

During his more than 20 years of experience in photography and filmmaking, Hasan has treated the themes of different humanitarian causes. Hasan has worked with the Red Cross, the United Nations and World Health Organization, as well as many others. 

With his series titled ‘Blue Fig’ Hasan captures Gabura, a union of the Satkhira district comprising twelve villages, in Bangladesh.

Gabura is home to over 35,000 people. Survivors of the Cyclone Alia in 2009 up until this day suffer from the cyclone’s consequences – Almost all homes have been washed away and people were too poor to rebuild their homes and lived on the dams for over two years.

Climate conversations worldwide by world leaders have been occurring yearly, but nothing much is being changed. People around the coastline have been experiencing extreme weather conditions.

Along with the flood, the cyclone brought seawater that caused permanent salinity. Regular water sources were damaged, alongside crop fields, creating food insecurity. The land became barren, and trees couldn’t sustain themselves due to soil salinity. 

Climate change is directly impacting women and children. They are going from poor to the poorest, affecting vulnerabilities like rural health systems, food security, water, and sanitation. An increase in the frequency and extent of hazards like cyclones, storm surges, and sea level rises put women and children in social and physical vulnerability in Bangladesh. The physical vulnerability results death, injury, diseases, physical abuse, chronic malnutrition, and forced labor. 

The social vulnerability entails loss of parents and family, internal displacement, risk of being trafficked, loss of property and assets, and lack of educational opportunities. 

With photography as Hasan’s medium, he does not only craft beauty, but shifts the conversation to misfortune and suffering not just in highly developed countries, but all across the world.