‘A good picture can even be taken on an iPhone. All you need to know is how’: Sabrina Islam
She feels strongly about women discovering their passions and pursuing them. “I feel women give up a lot of their dreams and career aspirations. They make a lot of sacrifices,” she said. “In the end, we must pursue one thing that we do just for ourselves”
Sabrina Islam's love and interest in photography started when she was 14 years old. Her father got her a small disposable camera and she started to take pictures. In 1977, she bought her first real camera: a Yashica 100 that cost about $100.
A photographer, entrepreneur, and writer, Sabrina was involved in the garments industry earlier on in her professional life. Currently, besides her photography passion, she is the founder and CEO of Reflections – an architectural and decorative stained-glass company specialising in etching, designing and painting on glass in Bangladesh.
Sabrina took lessons from the late photographer Anwar Hossain, with whom she had worked previously, he helped her make catalogues for her businesses. She had also taken part in two to three different photography workshops that helped her become a better photographer.
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Sabrina said that her inspiration for photography stems from the beauty of the world that God has gifted humanity.
The photographer, who earned her LLB and MBA from Dhaka University, and later studied Small Business Management at Mount Vernon College, Washington DC under a Ford Foundation Scholarship, likes travel photography as much as she loves to travel. And whenever she finds something good enough to be captured, she wishes to share it with the world.
In the last 12-14 years, she has become a more passionate photographer.
"I am a big traveller. My camera is always with me. It is my most cherished companion. I travel alone a lot, and I also have my family with me sometimes. But I prefer to be alone," said Sabrina.
"My husband is very supportive of what I do," she added.
Sabrina began her business career in the 1970s at the Bangladesh Handicrafts Cooperative Federation (Karika), which worked the marketing crafts of rural artisan. She is currently the Chairman of SSLCommerz, and also serves as the Director of Concorde Garments and Osman Interlinings Ltd.
Sabrina is good friends with the Ambassador of Brazil to Bangladesh, His Excellency Mr. João Tabajara Jr. She visited Brazil in 2019 by his invitation.
She went to see the Rio carnival. "The carnival was incredible. The music was upbeat. You cannot understand the language, but you can feel it," she said. "You feel the energy, it is so festive. We went there around 9 PM and came back home at around 5 AM."
The ambassador later suggested that she should exhibit her photos at a solo show focusing on Brazil, to which Sabrina agreed. "The exhibition was supposed to be held in March of 2020 but the pandemic happened and everything got shelved."
However, two years later, on 13th March 2022, Sabrina's solo exhibition 'Brazil- Beauty in Diversity' was inaugurated by the ambassador at the Edge Gallery, Gulshan. The exhibition solely focused on the photographs Sabrina had taken during her three-week visit to Brazil.
It was hard to capture the full breadth of Brazil's diversity in the span of her three-week tour. However, she loved Paraty on Costa Verde and its 17th-century architecture. "It is a cute town. It had beautifully cobbled streets. The festival was going on. People were dressed up and were roaming around. The architecture was very nice."
Sabrina mentioned that she used Canon 5D Mark IV for the pictures she took in Brazil. "If you become a photographer, buying cameras becomes an expensive addiction. Given a choice between a saree and a camera, I'd much rather choose the latter," she said.
"You don't always have to have the most expensive gear. A good picture can even be taken on an iPhone. All you need to know is how to frame the angle, what picture to take, how to compose it," she added.
She feels strongly about women discovering their passions and pursuing them. "I feel women give up a lot of their dreams and career aspirations. They make a lot of sacrifices," she said. "In the end, we must pursue one thing that we do just for ourselves."
TBS Picks
A selection of photos from the exhibition with a description from the photographer
1211 Iguaçu Falls, Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
Iguaçu Falls is one of the world's largest waterfalls. Stretching for 2.7km, and straddling the border with Argentina, the falls comprise hundreds of cascades, including the 80m-tall Devil's Throat.
1269 Portuguese colonial centre with cobbled streets. Paraty, Brazil
Paraty is a small town backed by mountains on Brazil's Costa Verde, between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Its Portuguese colonial centre has cobbled streets and 17th- and 18th-century buildings dating to its time as a port, during the Brazilian Gold Rush. Among its architectural landmarks is the waterfront Capela de Santa Rita, a whitewashed church built in 1722
2740 A parade float at the Rio Carnaval
The Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a festival held every year before Lent. It is considered the biggest carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets. The first Carnival festival in Rio occurred in 1723. The Rio Carnaval festival, featuring parade floats, flamboyant costumes and samba dancers, is a spectacular show.
3127 The Queen of Drums, Rio Carnaval
The typical Rio carnival parade is filled with revellers, floats, and adornments from numerous samba schools. Each school begins with these people who have choreographed dances in elaborate costumes that usually tell a short story.
4801 Woman of Desana tribe, dressed in grass skirts. Manaus, Brazil
The Desana tribe, one of the many indigenous tribes in Brazil, call themselves Umukomasã. There are approximately 30 divisions among the Desana, of chiefs, dancers, chanters, and servants. The Desana are specialists in certain types of woven baskets and sieves.
