Rashid Talukder (24 October 1939 – 25 October 2011) was a Bangladeshi photojournalist for ''

The Daily Ittefaq ''The Daily Ittefaq'' (, Bangla pronunciation: ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper. Founded in 1949 by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, it is the oldest and one of the most circulated newspapers in Bangladesh. The newspape ...

'', most known for capturing some of the defining images of the genocide during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

of 1971. Talukder was a founder of the Bangladesh Photo Journalists' Association. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the

Chobi Mela Chobi Mela () is a biennial international festival of photography held in Dhaka, Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, an international photography festival in Dhaka, in 2006, and the 2010 the 'Pioneer Photographer Award' given by

National Geographic magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

Early life and education

Born 24 October 1939 in Baj Baj, near Calcutta (now Kolkata) in

Pargana Pargana or parganah, also spelt pergunnah, equivalent to Mohallah as a subunit of Subah (Suba), was a type of former administrative division in the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Delhi Sultanate, Mughal and British Colonial empire ...

(now

24 Parganas 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS), or sometimes Twenty Four Parganas, is a former district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore. On 1 March 1986, the district was bifurcated into two separate districts namel ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now in West Bengal, India). He developed an interest in photography while still at school, and by the time he reached class 8 in 1945, he started working in the

darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, make Photographic printing, prints and carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light-sensitive photographic materials, including ...

Career

Talukdar started his career in 1962, as a press photographer with ''

The Sangbad ''The Sangbad'' () is a Bengali-language daily newspaper, founded in 1951 and published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest newspaper in Bangladesh. History The Sangbad was founded in 1951 and published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Its first ...

'' in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

in the then

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. After working for a few years, he joined ''

'', where he worked for 29 years as a photojournalist and during his career he most notably shot the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 against Pakistan and the photograph of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

delivering his historic speech on 7 March 1971. As he feared for his safety, many of his photographs were not published until 1993 when he was approached by '' The Daily Star''. Few photographers were able to film and publish an account of the events. Outside of Bangladesh,

Horst Faas Horst Faas (28 April 1933 – 10 May 2012) was a German photo-journalist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. He is best known for his images of the Vietnam War. Life Horst Faas as born on 28 April 1933 in Berlin, which was then part of Na ...

and Michel Laurent of the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

won a

Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography The Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. From 2000 it has used the "breaking news" name but it is considered a continuation of the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photogr ...

in 1972, which appeared in a print as "Death in Dacca". Talukdar was the founder of the Bangladesh Photo Journalists' Association, and also a member of advisory councils of photographic organisations like Bangladesh Photographic Society. In 2006, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions of photography at the

, an international photography festival in Dhaka, and in 2010 he became the first Bangladeshi photographer to have won the prestigious "Pioneer Photographer Award", part of the "All Roads Photography Programme" of

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

List of notable photographs

* A photograph of a speech given by

on 7 March 1971.

Personal life

Talukder had a son and two daughters. He died on 25 October 2011 at a Dhaka hospital, after a brief illness at the age of 72. He was buried next to his wife at the Azimpur graveyard in Dhaka.

Exhibitions

* ''Bangladesh 1971,''

Side Gallery Side Gallery is a photography gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, run by Amber Film & Photography Collective. It opened in 1977 as Side Gallery and Cinema with a remit to show humanist photography "both by and commissioned by the group along with wo ...

, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 2008 * ''Where Three Dreams Cross,''

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...

, London, 2010

References

External links

NPR: Spotlight On Rashid Talukder, Pioneering Bangladeshi Photographer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talukder, Rashid 1939 births 2011 deaths Bangladeshi photojournalists War photographers Burials at Azimpur Graveyard