29 Facts About Shahidul Alam

Shahidul Alam was born on 1955 and is a Bangladeshi media institution builder, a photojournalist, public speaker, storyteller, writer, blogger, curator, and educationist.

Shahidul Alam's books include Nature's Fury and My Journey as a Witness.

Shahidul Alam was the first Asian Chair of the International Jury of World Press Photo.

Shahidul Alam has spoken at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and Stanford universities.

Shahidul Alam was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 2001.

Shahidul Alam was a Time magazine persons of the year in 2018.

Shahidul Alam was the CASE Humanitarian of the Year in 2021.

Shahidul Alam is an Advisory Board Member of National Geographic Society and a National Geographic Explorer at Large.

Kazi Shahidul Alam was born in Dacca, East Pakistan in 1955 and grew up at Dhanmondi.

Shahidul Alam was one of the three children of physician Kazi Abul Monsur and child psychologist Quazi Anwara Monsur.

Shahidul Alam belongs to the Kazi family of Rajapur in Faridpur district.

Shahidul Alam studied at the boarding school Jhenaidah Cadet College.

Shahidul Alam took his undergraduate education in the University of Liverpool.

Shahidul Alam graduated from the university in 1976 by earning his BSc in biochemistry and genetics.

Shahidul Alam relocated to London for his Doctor of Philosophy study at Bedford College, University of London.

Shahidul Alam started to take an interest in photography during his time in London.

Shahidul Alam founded the Chobi Mela International Photography Festival in 1999, the most important and prestigious photography festival in Asia, of which he remains a director.

Shahidul Alam is among the last to have photographed Nelson Mandela.

Shahidul Alam has covered news events including natural disasters, governmental upheavals, the deaths of garment factory workers, human rights abuses, Bangladeshi government and military's repression and the "disappearances" of political opponents.

Shahidul Alam was a member of the jury board of The BOBs' award.

On 5 August 2018, David Bergman tweeted that Shahidul Alam had been taken from his home in Dhanmondi by 30 to 35 plainclothes police officers.

Shahidul Alam was shown arrested by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police the next day.

Shahidul Alam was charged under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology Act and was remanded for seven days.

Shahidul Alam told the court that he had been tortured while in police custody.

Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists urged the Bangladeshi government to immediately release Shahidul Alam without filing charges, as did Mumbai Press Club, Bombay News Photographer Association, Reporters Without Borders PEN International, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Prince Claus Fund and its network partners, Free Press Unlimited, and World Press Photo Foundation, United Nations human rights experts, and European Parliament.

Shahidul Alam has recounted some of his experiences in his reply to Arundhati Roy's open letter addressed to him while he was in jail.

Shahidul Alam has challenged the legality of the Section 57 of the ICT act with the Bangladesh Supreme Court after his challenge was rejected by Bangladesh High Court.

Shahidul Alam had criticised the genocidal attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli project on his social media accounts, which was deemed "anti-semitic".

Shahidul Alam stated that the Biennale had "incorrectly equated" his social media activity "to antisemitism".