Bangladeshi Photographer Shahriar Amin Fahim wins Nikon Trophy at Nikon Photo Contest
Shahriar’s snap “Karwan Bazar” depicts the passion of a tailor who knows how to survive and continue his work in any weather condition. The image highlights the harsh reality of the city dwellers in Bangladesh
Bangladeshi photographer Shahriar Amin Fahim's photo "Karwaan Bazaar" received the excellence award at the Nikon Photo Contest 2020-21 in Japan under the "next generation category".
"I am the first Bangladeshi to win the Nikon Photo Contest (NPC) and become a recipient of the Nikon Trophy since its inception in 1969", said Shahriar.
He was also nominated as the grand prize winner, the highest award , but lost out to an Iranian photographer Amin Nazari.
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Shahriar will receive $4,000 worth camera equipment for being a category winner and for being a nominee of the grand prize.
"Being a category winner in the prestigious 'Nikon Photo Contest' which has been running since 1969, is like a dream come true for me," said Shahriar.
"Only the top two photographers of the season won the Nikon trophy," he added.
During the pandemic, Shahriar, clicked images to capture moments and stories of the unprecedented times.
"Whenever there is heavy rainfall, the country's largest market place Karwan Bazaar gets waterlogged for at least a day," reads the caption of Shariar's image.
"Karwan Baazar" shows a tailor working for his survival in the waterlogged market and the simple visual has powerful underlying messages.
Alongside depicting the passion of a tailor, the picture highlights the harsh reality of urban life and upcoming environmental hazards.
"Dramatically this photo is presenting the bad urban planning as well as the scenario where the city dwellers are becoming used to it. This photo is also representing the environmental issues… as we know a large area of the country will be submerged and lost forever due to global warming situation and rise of the sea level…," reads an excerpt of the comment from the jury.
The event winning photos of this season will be exhibited in late of November in Nikon New York, Nikon London and Nikon Tokyo exhibition galleries.
A total of 26,000 participants from around the world submitted 65,000+ photos for NPC, and only 54 photos were primarily selected this year.
Of the 54 photos, Shahriar's "Karwan Bazaar" became one of the top two photos.
Nikon Photo Contest has two categories. This year, the theme of the "Next Generation Category" was "passion", where photographers aged 25 or below from around the world were allowed to participate.
Shahriar is an Engineering graduate from the the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET)
He has received over 30 national and international awards.
