Bangladesh's first female professional photographer passes away

Bangladesh's first female professional photographer, Sayeeda Khanam, passed away here on Tuesday at the age of 83.

Sayeeda, who had been suffering from old age complications, breathed her last at her residence in Banani, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Born on December 29, 1937 in Pabna, she started her career as a photojournalist in 1956, in 'Begum', the only newspaper dedicated to women at that time.

Being inspired to pursue photography from her aunt poet Mahmuda Khatun Siddique, she started photography at the age of only 13.

She took her first picture in Kolkata and her first subjects were two Kabuliwalas, passing by the Victoria Memorial, she had told the Daily Star in an interview.

Rabindranath Tagore's 'Kabuliwala' had made an impression on her mind and she wanted to take a picture of a Kabuliwala, she had said.

Sayeeda's obsession with photography grew with time, and she covered many national and international events. She also worked as a photographer with legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray in three of his films.

While pursuing two master’s degrees in Bangla Literature and Library Science at Dhaka University, she started capturing time, people, history and narratives with her camera.

Her photographs were published in many national and international newspapers including the Observer, Morning News, and Ittefaq. She also captured many important events of the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

She worked as a librarian in seminar library of Bengali Literature Department of the Dhaka University from 1974 to 1986.

She received many awards from several national and international organisations.

In 2019, the government awarded her ‘Ekushey Padak’ for her contribution to photography.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Sayeeda and said that she will live forever in the heart of people through her works.