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Shahidul Alam
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Shahidul Alam
Shahidul Alam (born 1955) is a Bangladeshi media institution builder, photojournalist, public speaker, storyteller, writer, blogger, curator, and educationist.
Alam founded Drik Picture Library in 1989, Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in 1998, the Chobi Mela International Photography Festival in 1999, and Majority World in 2004. In the early 1990s, Drik's work as an internet provider introduced email to Bangladesh. It also developed the country's first Bangla font for the internet, its first webzine, and its first web portal.
Alam's books include Nature's Fury (2007) and My Journey as a Witness (2011). A photographer for over forty years, his work has been featured in publications worldwide and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Centre Pompidou, Tate Modern, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Kuala Lumpur National Art Gallery. He was also the first Asian to chair World Press Photo's International Jury.
Alam has spoken at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford universities. In 2001, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society. He received the Shilpakala Padak from the president of Bangladesh in 2014, the Humanitarian Award from the Lucie Awards in 2018, and was named one ofTime magazine's Persons of the Year that same year. In 2021, he was the recognised as the CASE Humanitarian of the Year. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak (culture and education) in 2025.
Alam serves as an advisory board member of the National Geographic Society and is a National Geographic Explorer at Large.
Shahidul Alam was born in Dacca, East Pakistan (modern-day Dhaka, Bangladesh), in 1955, and grew up in Dhanmondi. He is one of three children of physician Kazi Abul Monsur and child psychologist Quazi Anwara Monsur, and belongs to the Kazi family of Rajapur in Faridpur District.
As a child, Alam was known for navigating Dhaka's congested streets on his small fold-up bicycle. He attended Jhenaidah Cadet College, a military boarding school in western Bangladesh.
Alam pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Liverpool, where he earned a BSc in biochemistry and genetics in 1976. During his time in Liverpool, he often wore a lungi—a traditional South Asian garment—while walking through the streets. His political awareness deepened during this period through his involvement with the Socialist Workers Party.
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Shahidul Alam
Shahidul Alam (born 1955) is a Bangladeshi media institution builder, photojournalist, public speaker, storyteller, writer, blogger, curator, and educationist.
Alam founded Drik Picture Library in 1989, Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in 1998, the Chobi Mela International Photography Festival in 1999, and Majority World in 2004. In the early 1990s, Drik's work as an internet provider introduced email to Bangladesh. It also developed the country's first Bangla font for the internet, its first webzine, and its first web portal.
Alam's books include Nature's Fury (2007) and My Journey as a Witness (2011). A photographer for over forty years, his work has been featured in publications worldwide and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Centre Pompidou, Tate Modern, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, the Royal Albert Hall, and the Kuala Lumpur National Art Gallery. He was also the first Asian to chair World Press Photo's International Jury.
Alam has spoken at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford universities. In 2001, he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society. He received the Shilpakala Padak from the president of Bangladesh in 2014, the Humanitarian Award from the Lucie Awards in 2018, and was named one ofTime magazine's Persons of the Year that same year. In 2021, he was the recognised as the CASE Humanitarian of the Year. He was awarded the Ekushey Padak (culture and education) in 2025.
Alam serves as an advisory board member of the National Geographic Society and is a National Geographic Explorer at Large.
Shahidul Alam was born in Dacca, East Pakistan (modern-day Dhaka, Bangladesh), in 1955, and grew up in Dhanmondi. He is one of three children of physician Kazi Abul Monsur and child psychologist Quazi Anwara Monsur, and belongs to the Kazi family of Rajapur in Faridpur District.
As a child, Alam was known for navigating Dhaka's congested streets on his small fold-up bicycle. He attended Jhenaidah Cadet College, a military boarding school in western Bangladesh.
Alam pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Liverpool, where he earned a BSc in biochemistry and genetics in 1976. During his time in Liverpool, he often wore a lungi—a traditional South Asian garment—while walking through the streets. His political awareness deepened during this period through his involvement with the Socialist Workers Party.
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