I grew up listening to and reading Bangladeshi folklore and tales. Those stories were always meant to have a lesson at the end, and they were often an integration of humor and solemnity. My grandfather also told stories of the liberation war and while those stories didn’t have the humor, they still contained lessons and the seriousness of the state that he grew up in. With that said, the importance of storytelling and creativity to me is the conversation that takes place during and after the project. Conversations make thoughts run, and therefore, those thoughts tend to make an impact and push for the necessary changes that need to happen in our society. This is the main reason why I was attracted to political cartoons from a very young age. This was my introduction to social justice and later this interest transformed into capturing stories with photography. 

While I am passionate about photography and storytelling, I lack the experience needed for this work. At The Creative Process, I am curating my experience to learn leadership, collaboration, different forms of consent for storytelling, as well as storytelling purely with photography. I also plan to focus my stories on Bangladeshi Americans in their 20s and early 40s to showcase their stories and create some sort of representation for younger generations of Bangladeshis.   

A recent project I started is called Lamba Kotha (long talk/long conversation)—it is a platform for Bangladeshi young generations to voice their stories. The goal of this platform is to provide a safe space for conversation that needs to happen in the Bangladeshi/South Asian community. This platform is—mainly for but not limited to—women and the LGBTQIA+ community with an option to remain anonymous as they share their thoughts. This project uses photography and writing as the main tools to carry out this project. As of right now, the project focuses on the Bangladeshi community in east Detroit. In the future, I plan to expand to all Bangladeshi adults in their 20s and 30s who are interested in participating. I hope to start conversations on topics that are still considered taboo and empower people (mainly women) to feel comfort and confidence in their decision-making.  

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I grew up in a small village in Sylhet, Bangladesh and so my outdoor adventure always consisted of trips over hills, through forests, on dirt roads, and to lakes and waterfalls. I feel the most authentic me when I’m outdoors. My first trip abroad (without family) was on a study abroad trip to Kyoto, Japan. We hiked every day, studying the architecture, traditions, and cultures of shrines and temples. There, I focused my research on Shintoism, a religion that worships nature itself. Being there reminded me of the freedom I felt every time I was outdoors and therefore, it ignited a passion for travel and learning about different cultures.