Abir Abdullah
Abir Abdullah, is currently working as an independent photographer, photography instructor at Alliance Francaise de Dhaka and an independent photo editor. Making a significant career change to become a photographer, he studied at the Pathshala South Asian Media Institute, gaining a diploma in photojournalism in 1999. He worked as the Bangladesh correspondent of the European Press Photo Agency (EPA) from 2005-2017. Abir has been appointed as the principal of Pathshala South Asian Media Institute (2018-2020). Abir’s numerous awards includes the Mother Jones Award 2001 for his work on Freedom Fighters (Veterans of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971). His work continues to gain recognition and he was the Alexia Foundation Professional grants winner 2013 and the recipient of the Leica Reportage prize in the Vevey International Photography Awards in Switzerland 2013. Abir's work has been published in New York Times, New Yorker, Time, Guardian, The Telegraph, Stern, Der Spiegel, the New Internationalist Magazine and many other international publications. He was one of the photographers featured in the book BLINK, published by Phaidon, featuring 100 photographers worldwide and in the book titled New Stories commissioned and published by World Press Photo.
Highlights of work as an exhibiting artist:
- Reflections: Water and Life in Bangladeshat The Association of Photographers Gallery in London, 1999
- 2001 Mother Jones award recipientsexhibition at the Ansel Adams Center in San Francisco, USA
- Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh exhibitionat the Whitechapel Gallery, UK, 2010
- Climate Refugees seriesat the Freedom to Create exhibition at Ana Tzarev Gallery, New York, 2011
- Metropolis city lifein the urban age 2011 - Noorderlicht Photo Festival, Groningen.
- The Visa Pour L’Imagein Perpignan, France 2013 and 2021.
- Zoom Photojournalism Festival in Quebec, Canada 2014, 2018 and 2021.