Adviser

A Time Magazine’s Person of the Year 2018, photographer, writer and human rights activist Shahidul obtained a chemistry PhD from London University, before taking up photography. Returning to his native Bangladesh, he campaigned to bring down autocratic general Ershad. In pursuit of social justice he set up the award winning organisations, Drik, Pathshala and Chobi Mela. His book “My journey as a witness” is described by John Morris, the legendary picture editor of Life Magazine, as the ‘most important book ever written by a photographer’. Alam has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford and Yale and exhibited at Moma, Tate Modern and Centre de Pompidou. He is the only person of colour to have chaired the prestigious international jury of World Press Photo. He is a visiting professor of Sunderland University and an honorary fellow of the Royal Photographic Society. In 2018 he was jailed and tortured for speaking out against his government’s repressive practices.