Bangladeshi photographer selected for Joop Swart Masterclass 2017

Shadman Shahid, a Bangladeshi photographer and Pathshala South Asian Media Institute alumnus has been selected for the prestigious Joop Swart Masterclass 2017, an international platform for young photographers. Organised by World Press Photo, the winners of the Masterclass were declared at a World Press Photo Festival in Amsterdam. For its 24th edition, World Press Photo has selected 12 young photographers from 11 different countries around the world. A total of 187 young ptohotographers were invited to submit their portfolios by the World Press Photo’s nominating committee this year and only 12 of them were selected for the final masterclass. Shadman Shahid, a freelance documentary photographer, was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Shahid has completed his photography education from Pathshala South Asian Media Institute. His other achievements include being chosen as one of the “Ones to watch” by British Journal of Photography in 2016, becoming a finalist in Grand Prix Foto Festival in 2016 and the third prize winner as an emerging photographer of Asia in Dali International Photographic Festival, China, back in 2015. Shahid’s works have been published in Invisible photographer Asia, Photografia Magazine, Archivozine Magazine Issue 15, British Journal of Photography Talent Issue and DOC Magazine. He is currently serving as a faculty of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute. Sarker Protick, one of the members of the selection committee and an internationally successful Bangladeshi photographer, reflected on this year’s candidate portfolios by saying, “All the photographers are looking to tell stories with a strong visual vocabulary, a clear approach and consistency throughout their works, it was not only about craft but also the authorship and vision of the artist.” Joop Swart Masterclass was introduced in 1994, and since then, this achievement has been previously awarded to six Bangladeshi photographers who all are Pathshala alumni including GMB Akash (2002), Munem Wasif (2007), Andrew Biraj (2008), Saiful Huq Omi (2010), Sarker Protick (2014) and Samsul Alam Helal (2016).