“Through my photography I hoped to portray both the happiness and beauty of Sylhet, as well as the authenticity of the day to day lives of its people”

Photographer Sakib Khan, captures the essence of contentment in the lives of the people of Sytlet, despite having so little, a smile is something on each one of their faces.

“My interest in street photography stems from wanting to capture the beauty of something as naturally as I could.  A few days into my stay in Bangladesh, I came to realise that I was free from any weight of the past and any anticipation of the future and I was truly living in the moment. I came across an uncountable number of unprivileged and unfortunate people who appeared to live a very difficult life, one full of struggle and hard work. They would work most hours of the day just to feed their children and put a tin roof over their head. Despite this, one thing that always came to shock me was the constant smile on their faces and how they just carried on with their lives with so little.

Suddenly the materialistic things in life become a lot less meaningful to me, when I saw contentment on the faces of people who didn’t have what I have. It made me really appreciate the little things in life and that time is precious. My trip to Sylhet will be one that that will never be forgotten”

Street Hustlin – Centre Point – Sylhet – Selling pottery for a living
Back & Forth – Sylhet – Kids working on the rice fields
Biker Boy – Sondipul, Sylhet – 16 year-old boy with big dreams
Dirty Fishing – Sylhet – Fisherman fishing for people who own ponds.Despite doing the dirty work he only earns 20% of the fish he catches as payment

 

Best of Buds – Sylhet – These kids don’t go to school, instead they help their parents grow crops and look after cows and sheep
Fishes to Your Door – A Fisherman that travels from village to village on foot, selling fish at your doorstep
“I earn over a month, how much you earn in a day” – Sylhet Tea Garden – A tea worker that earns on average £1 for a days of work
“You couldn’t walk a mile in my shoes” – Sylhet – Works in King Bridge, where he pushes rishkaw’s up the hill leading to the bridge earning only 3 pence a 3 minute trip up

Sakib Khan
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