Documentary

Bede Community of Bangladesh

Dhaka

Bangladesh

Since childhood, Bede people has always been a source of awe and attraction to me. I used to wonder how can people having no permanent abode in the land wander across the river with boats and call it a Living? Their source of income has always been providing entertainment to common people. In last 5 years I had the privilege to capture their lifestyle through my lenses and this experience has made me even more speechless.

It has been observed these mostly nomadic people of the ‘Bede’ community have a weak socio-economic condition, large family size, a low level of literacy. Mostly they practice ethno-medicine and snake charming as their main profession to earn a living.

Bedes, a marginalized Muslim community in Bangladesh. They mostly live a nomadic life, moving from place to place to earn a living. A life style that is passed down from generations, is a symphony blended with uncertainty and outmost optimism.

This very nomadic people are deprived from food, health, education, shelter, medical care and so on, but somehow, they manage to live their life with a huge smile and sheer optimism which make them most intriguing.

A Bede girl. Her undisputed acceptance of her own identity .
A little girl’s nose is being pierced by her mother.
An elderly woman enjoying the zest of wedding function .
child marriages are a common phenomenon, in fact, the norm. Here, both the bride and groom are in their teens.
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Farida Alam

I believe in immersion photography and spend months listening, observing and talking with my subjects over the course of a project. Photography has become… More »

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