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New York is made up of millions. Millions of people. People who come from different backgrounds. Backgrounds which have unique characteristics. Characteristics which can be portrayed through various forms of art and expression. Expression that lends an eye to another New Yorker who may otherwise remain forever blind to any particular facet of society.

On March 28th, 2014, this society was that of the residents of Bangladesh. Some book long ago told me that Bangladesh had the world’s highest population density, that is, the most people per square kilometer of inhabitable land within the nation’s borders. When the tour guide conveyed to us that Bangladesh had approximately 20 times the population of New York within a similar geographical area as that of New York, I reasoned that if not at the top, it had remained at least in the top 5. Thousands have emigrated to the United States and ‘branched’ out, so to speak, to provide the connection line between those who want to know halfway across the world, to their roots in the opposite hemisphere.

The pictures were striking and left me motionless and speechless for a number of minutes. While I could go on about how certain ones took me to that scene in Bangladesh such as putting me on the beach where the man combed his hair, or in the slum where the woman lay pregnant, or behind the camera of people acting their fantasies, there was something much bigger than that encompassing the experience. The exhibit itself had a story behind it and the entire room became a work of art once we knew the effort behind the project. When opening a gallery, a viewer at random may or may not know the story behind acquiring the real estate, maintaining the building, obtaining the lease, how these financial obligations are fulfilled or any of the troubles and leisures behind them – this was not the case for “Eyes on Bangladesh” and thus it was all the more worthwhile and fulfilling to have been there and experienced it first hand and in person.