The ascent of photography: Drik’s 20 year journey

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Drik organized an exhibition of photography that began on September 6, 2009 and lasted till the 13th of the same month. While Drik Gallery, a component of the Drik Picture Agency, housed the main exhibition that charted the photographic moments in the history of Bangladesh, an ancillary show of the Indian maestro, Raghu Rai, was mounted at the Bengal gallery of Fine Arts, a stone’s throw from Drik headquarter.

At the home venue photos of the historic occasion of the signing of the Chittgong Hill Tracts Peace Accord and an interesting portrait of Nelson Mandela stood out among the standard array of landscape studies.

As part of the celebration, a lecture titled ‘Golam Kasem Daddy Lecture Series’ was delivered by artist and teacher of the University of Chittagong, Dhali Al Mamoon with Dr Shahidul Alam presiding over the session on the first day.

Drik Gallery– dedicated solely to the promotion of photography – embarked on its journey on September 4, 1989, from a single room space. The next 20 years saw activities that helped the organization to develop into one of the most influential photo agencies in the South. Their meritorious actions during this period also positively impacted the photographic scene of Bangladesh, only to the benefits of the professionals. At present, Drik consists of two galleries, a studio, a massively rich archive and a very influential photography school known as Pathshala.

Drik has been instrumental in bringing home the international exhibitions such as World Press Photo and also exhibitions by numerous international stars, thereby creating many a stimulating moment in the photographic history of the country. As for the show that they organized to celebrate their 20th year, renowned Indian photographer Raghu Rai was invited to inaugurate the exhibition and also to showcase some of his extraordinary takes on India in an exhibition titled India.