Near the end of November on the day before the big sacrifice of Eid al-Adha Catie, Sarah, and I went out looking for cows that had been decorated for the holiday. Earlier while in a CNG we had seen – amongst many others – one that was absolutely covered with pink glitter and flowers, and Catie obviously needed to go back to see it again and take a picture. We wandered about the New Market area of Chittagong for a while, and although we didn’t come across many cows we did stumble upon a giant hidden labyrinth of back-alley markets filled with all sorts of fruit, vegetables, sugarcane, fabrics, clothes, spices, meat, and an unbelievable number of fish (both dead and alive). We were a little intimidated at first but it was a great part of the city and of course in true Bangladeshi fashion everyone was extremely nice and happy to have us come through.
Closer to the center of New Market I also saw the same blind man I had photographed and written about previously. He was in almost the exact same spot, wearing the same clothes, and had the same bag although it looked he had collected some new things as well. But when you look at the pictures side by side you can see that his appearance has changed considerably. His clothes look older and dirtier, and his beard is longer and his hair mussed up, but he’s also noticeably skinnier. The photos were taken just barely over a month apart; I wonder if he had more trouble getting things to eat in November. And I wonder what he looks like now, another month and a half after the last time I saw him.
Photo taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on October 23, 2009.
Photo taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on November 27, 2009.
As I’ve been photographing in Bangladesh I’ve been thinking about ways that I could give back to the people I’ve taken images from, and one of the most immediate ways I thought of was trying to find the people again and give them prints of their photos. I’m not sure whether people here would find much value in such a gift. Unfortunately I’m quite sure that this blind man on the street probably wouldn’t for obvious reasons. Perhaps if I could sell his image I could bring him back money from the sale, but who knows how far in the future that might be and if he’ll still be there then, or where that money would end up going after I gave it to him, and if it would be safe if it were a large sum. Perhaps I could give it to him in installments, or in the form of food. Maybe I could bring someone who spoke Bangla to explain myself to him…
I don’t know… I need to continue to give these things more thought. I just want to be sure that I am always giving back to the people that I am taking from.
Photos taken in Chittagong, Bangladesh on November 27, 2009.
Tags: bangladesh, chittagong, fish, food, kids, locals, markets, photos, photos by dan, streets
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These are great. Number 7 is unlike anything I’ve seen on this blog (though I haven’t been through it all). It’s disturbing how one of the fishes’ face looks like it’s full of life, while the other looks like it’s rotting. Has anyone ever recognized you, having been there a previous time you were photographing?
The second time I went to this one refugee camp I definitely had people remember me and come up and say hello and welcome back – and I recognized them as well because I remembered the photos I had taken of them the first time. I’m sure also though that it happens quite often that someone recognizes me with my camera and exclaims something in Bangla which I can’t understand and thus the whole thing just flies over my head.