I was pleasantly surprised after we visited the Eyes on Bangladesh exhibit. At first glance, most of the photographs have a dreary tone, with many depicting scenes of poverty, depression and social injustice. However, I also found a source of hope and inspiration among many of the photographs. For example, the series with the matriarch sitting together with the house servant may look dehumanizing and pitiful for the servant. But looking across the spectrum of photographs, we can see a progression, as the attitudes and treatments of the servants could be modernizing over time. Additionally, the series in which all the Bengali reenacted their dream scenarios was also striking, as it presents an idealistic and optimistic outlook towards how life could be better. Many of those people share many of the same dreams as we do, despite all of our living differences.

However, the series that captivated me the most was Belonging, particularly this picture. Old Dhaka-Belonging

That just stood out immediately to me, especially since the rest of the series about Dhaka seemed to capture the poverty of the community, this picture captures all the unadulterated joy and optimism of the people. On a further glance, the series holds an interesting blend of melancholy and exuberance. Even though the conditions look bad at first, people can always find happiness in the most unlikely of places. Other pictures in the series, such as the one with the huge religious celebration figure shows that these communities could be perfect birthplaces of culture and persistence.