bdnews24.com chief photographer wins top SAARC award

bdnews24.com’s chief photographer Muhammad Mostafigur Rahman has won the top award in this year’s SAARC photographic contest, besides making a mark in all three categories.

The SAARC Cultural Centre announced the names of the winners on Wednesday.

Rahman’s photograph, ‘Honey Collectors’, on the honey-trappers of the Sundarbans, has been adjudged the best photograph.

Nepal’s Narayan Maharanjan has followed with ‘Clouds of Devotees’, and India’s Anil Risal Singh made it to the third position with his ‘Golden Ganga’.

Besides the best three, the cultural centre has named two photographs as being ‘highly praiseworthy’ and ‘highly commended’, and chosen 15 others for special mention.

The two photographs in the second and third categories - ‘Follow’, showing three Satkhira women being followed by three ducks, and ‘Kansat Mango Bazar’ are by Mamun, too.

Fifteen pictures by photographers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka have been categorised as ‘notable’.

The selected photographs were exhibited at the SAARC Cultural Centre on Dec 8, the SAARC Charter Day.

The best three photographers would get cash awards and citations. The others would be given citations.

Mamun did his diploma is photography from the South Asian Institute of Photography after completing his post-graduation in Political Science.

His initiation in photography began at the Dhaka University Photographic Society.

Mamun has been with bdnews24.com since 2007. Before that he used to work at Daily Ittefaq.

Mamun is also a travel writer and has three books – Dekhun Bangladesh, Dekhun Sundarban, Dekhun Samudra Saikat – to his credit.

He has taken part in a number of exhibitions in Dhaka. His photographs have been published in prestigious publications such as the National Geographic, the Asahi Shimbun and the Reader’s Digest.