A portrait photography exhibition “Shahabuddin: The Painter, The Fighter” by Iftekhar Wahid Iftee will end today at the Zainul Art Gallery of the Fine Arts Department of Dhaka University. The photographs present some unique moments from the daily life of the famed artist of country, Shahabuddin Ahmed.
The display was inaugurated by Shahabuddin Ahmed on August 8. The exhibition is the outcome of a seven-year project of Iftee with the aim to document personal moments of the great artist.
Portrait based photographer Iftekhar Wahid Iftee, by following the footsteps of his idol famous photographer Nasir Ali Mamun, has shown intelligence and commendable aesthetic sense in capturing the displayed photographs. “Photographs are history itself. It’s hard to find portraits of the people who work dedicatedly for our country and consequently become legends. So I came up with the idea to capture Salauddin Ahmed with my camera since I believe he is already considered as a legendary artist to many.” Iftee shares with the Dhaka Tribune.
The photographer had shown his liberty in his own language by presenting a photo story of life of Shahabuddin who is one of the rare painters whose name and works have crossed the national boundary long before, and entered the international domain.
In the photographs, Shahabuddin has been captured in various moods at many locations. Compositions of some of the photographs are brilliant which shows the real face of the person behind his grand artworks. Shahabuddin’s artistic self, his passion and expressions have been vividly captured through the lens of Iftee.
The genius of Shahabuddin is known to the world, but this exhibition tells some stories about the creator of those exquisite canvasses.
Iftee is also planning to publish a book on Shahabuddin very soon. On the other hand, he is preparing for his next exhibition on living legend philosopher Sardar Fazlul Karim.
