Tushikur Rahman Bangladesh
There is one place in which one’s privacy , intimacy , integrity and inviolability are guaranteed. one’s body and mind , a unique temple and a familiar territory of sense and personal history , space and time are warped by sleep deprivation, the frequent outcome of anxiety and stress. Gradually, one who wishes to commit suicide loses his mental resilience and sense of freedom. He feels alienated and objectified – unable to communicate, relate, attach or empathize with others. He / she floats in the dreams and eventually fleets into the sky. The taste of suicide. The true sensation. He feels – the extreme fantasy.We read about suicide in newspapers only to forget them before reading another news item. Few ponder upon what the person have might gone through before committing suicide. Every forty seconds, one person in the world commits suicide; many others contemplate upon it. Quite possibly, every mature adult has considered attempting suicide at least once in his or her lifetime. There are so many reasons for doing it or having the tendency—depression being the main cause. It is not fun to decide to kill yourself; it can be the scariest period in your life. It is a time when everything around you weighs you down. You feel all alone.Like many others I too went through such a period at an early age. I found myself squeezed in a bottle that was locked by my own family. Staying at home was like being crucified every hour. Everything became meaningless and I even lost the strength to hope. I felt alone with no one to communicate with. Everyone one was my enemy and responsible for my depression. I belonged to. Suicide was like a dream that could set me free. That dream never came true. But I did go through that journey. ‘Fatalistic tendency’ was the worst part of my life.Making this photo story was like writing a personal diary about my past. Thinking about those times is still difficult for me.
Tushikur Rahman, born in Bangladesh in 1987, is a documentary photographer who prefers to work with social issues.Tushik attended Pathshala SouthAsian Media Academy for BA in Photography. He participated in various international workshops conducted by renowned teachers and practitioners including StuartFreedman, Jorge Villacorta,Shannon Lee Castleman, Abir Abdullah and Munem Wasif. He has documented the lives of ‘Tiger widows’ and a full sequence of a tiger being slaughtered by hundreds of people in Shatkhira,Bangladesh. During 2005-8 he traveled across Bangladesh to capture the lives of various peopleliving in sufic orders, theirunconventional lifestyle and
their love and passion towards music. In 2010, he finished his latest project, Fatalistic Tendency, a subject concerned with depression that results in violence. Tushik is looking forward to work on more social issues which may have been overlooked. In 2011 he was selected as a finalist for the Burn magazine’s ‘EPF (Emerging Photographer Fund Grant)’. He was a finalist for the ‘WPO-World Photography Organization’ Student focus award 2011; he received 3rd prize of Jury award in conceptual category of prestigious Viewbook Photostory 2010.
Tushikur Rahman was chosen by photographer Salma Abedin Prithi
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Laatikkomo’s interview with Tushikur Rahman will be posted soon.