Protick Sarker’s (Bangladesh) exhibition What Remains
For his series What Remains the Bangladeshi photographer Protick Sarker photographed his grandparents John and Prova as they navigated old age. Protick began the project as a way to reconnect with his grandparents, both of whom were housebound in their Dhaka apartment due to health problems. Although Protick visited them every day, he often stayed only a short while. “After five or ten minutes I wasn’t sure what to talk about with them.” Soon Protick began to use photography as a way to lengthen his stays, and to learn how his grandparents felt as they confronted old age. “As time went by, it shaped everything in its own way. Bodies took different forms and relations went distant. Grandma’s hair turned grey, the walls started peeling off and the objects were all that remained. Here, life is silent, suspended. Everything is on a wait; A wait for something that I don’t completely understand”. Protick continued the project for a year, developing along the way a technique involving overexposure, creating what he calls “high key” images. In 2012, his grandmother died, and he put the project on hold. He still visits his grandfather weekly, but says that he no longer needs to rely on his camera to pass the time.
Protick Sarker (1986) was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has studied photography in Bangladesh, United Kingdom and USA, currently is teaching at Pathshala South Asian Media Academy. In 2014, he was named in British Journal of Photography’s annual Ones to Watch. His photographs have been published in The New York Times, GEO Magazine, National Geographic and elsewhere. Since 2012 author participates in international group exhibitions and makes solo exhibitions. In 2015, he went on to win a World Press Photo award for his story What Remains.
Curator: Maira Dudareva
Organizer: Riga Photography Biennial in cooperation with Latvian Museum of Photography
Image: Protick Sarker, from the series What Remains, 2012 - 2016