Most of the victims of acid violence are women. In Bangladesh, where acid is cheap and readily available, acid violence is a horrifyingly common occurrence. Photographer Khaled Hasan turns the camera on these women and the stories behind the acid-burnt faces. Acid violence is a worldwide phenomenon, and the countries with the highest rates of attacks are Bangladesh, Pakistan, Cambodia, Nepal, and Uganda. In Bangladesh, 80 percent of the victims are women, many of them below the age of 18. It is always their faces that are targeted, leading to disfigurement and blindness. In the last 10 years, there were 3,000 victims of acid attacks. Land disputes, dowry, personal jealousy, family and business feuds, rejection of marriage proposals or sexual advances can all spur an acid attack. In Bangladesh, acid is easily available and the laws for its commercial use are lax. Nitric or sulfuric acid, used in the attacks, can be bought from the black market for as low as $1 to $5. Acids used in manufacturing industries such as dyeing, cotton, rubber, or jewelry making, or acid used in school and college laboratories, often find their way to the black market. There are only a few beds for burn injuries in the government-run Dhaka Medical Hospital in the capital. Acid melts the tissues and even dissolves bones. Often eyes and ears are permanently damaged. Many victims have to undergo dozens of reconstructive surgeries to lead a functional life. No funding is available for cosmetic surgery, and most victims are from rural areas, so they cannot afford expensive procedures. There is little scope for rehabilitation, counseling, and long-term care. Even though a 2002 law made acid violence punishable by death and imposed a no-bail policy for perpetrators, acid violence continues to be a common problem. Khaled Hasan’s project is a quest to understand what lies behind the acid-burnt faces and to tell their stories of survival and healing.

Book detail info here

PhotoBook Collection info here

 

Product code: 9786098032039

Author: Khaled Hasan

ISBN: 9786098032039

Cover: paperback

Pages: 168 stron

Publisher: Šviesos raštas

Language: English

About the Book

Photographer Khaled Hasan’s compelling series of black and white photographs documents and emphasizes the paradox in the dramatic struggle for survival of the eroded Piyain River and a poor stone-crushing community in northern Bangladesh. Khaled Hasan challenges us with this incredible set of well-composed images, he holds up a mirror. Instead of passing judgement he wants us to reflect on and question our own environmental behavior. Khaled Hasan’s photos have all the elements of a good photo. They have beautiful composition and contrast, but above all content and meaning. Now and then he adapts his style to grab our attention, but in a subsequent photo he immediately returns to the content. The bed of a river in the northeast of Bangladesh is completely removed by an impoverished community; ancient black rocks, rubbed smooth by the water. The photos show the people slogging, sweating, fighting to survive. Less than ten years ago you would have said, ‘Oh, those poor people’, but times have changed. The polar ice caps are melting and greenhouse gases are destroying our ozone layer. In 2009, anyone looking at these photos feels sympathy for the river, for Mother Earth. Stripped bare, the Piyain River lies meekly by. Defenseless and scarred for life. What must once have been a pretty riverbed, full of big round rocks, lined with trees and bushes, has now become a wasteland. The channel that leads the water to the sea has disappeared. At the first monsoon rains the water will run in all directions, as if Bangladesh has been hit by another flood. What will the water soon carry along with it? And where do all those crushed rocks go? Who uses them and what for? What at first appears to be a far-off problem comes so horribly close by. Why does Khaled Hasan see a problem to which we are blind? The way in which the world functions is unjust; there is structurally unfair opposition. The world spends 50 billion a year on development aid, but spends 1,000 billion a year on arms and easily 7 trillion dollar was spent to control the financial crisis. If things were distributed fairly, this community in Bangladesh would have a normal life. And they would not be forced to plunder the Piyain River day in and day out. Perhaps we don’t need these rocks to live a good life. In the meantime, Mother Earth is turning her back on us and we are unwilling to look at the consequences of our behavior. We don’t want to recognize that we are unnecessarily allowing a community in northern Bangladesh to live in poverty and we don’t want to recognize that our behavior is destroying the Earth. We should be thankful that Khaled Hasan did want to look. With his photography he confronts us with ourselves. His photo of the large rock, irrevocably smashed to pieces with a sledge hammer, describes in great detail our own tragedy. Geert van Kesteren – Jerusalem

 

 

Category  Arts & Photography Books

Size: Standard Portrait, 8×10 in, 20×25 cm
Pages: 44 Pages

Publish Date: Dec 22, 2009

Softcover : Flexible, high-gloss laminated cover