Abstract of the accomplished photographic work
Mirage is a series of photographs that attempts to highlight the corruption that lies behind many construction projects in Bangladesh. Focusing on numerous bridges that started to be built in canals, open fields, and agricultural lands over the past two decades – but that now lie abandoned and unused – Fatiq draws attention to the ongoing impact and the sheer scale of this predicament. In several instances, his works depict bridges that have collapsed, with their approach roads in ruins if they were ever made at all.
These monumental, almost surreal forms now dominate landscapes across the country, symbolising for Fatiq the systemic corruption in the construction industry where huge budgets are misused and projects left unfinished. Although this series of photographs is devoid of people, it nonetheless conveys lost hopes of connectivity between places and communities, particularly in rural areas where local populations have no option but to move around by water for much of the year.
Description of the project you intend to pursue through the Prize
“Fragile” is a photographic project that explores the corruption, mismanagement, and impact of unplanned sluice gate constructions in Bangladesh’s rivers and canals over the past three decades.
Sluice gates are meant to control water flow during the monsoon and retain water in dry seasons. However, many remain dysfunctional— incomplete, lacking barriers, and others rapidly deteriorating due to corruption and budget misuse. This mismanagement disrupts water control, causing severe floods that destroy millions of acres of crops. The failure of sluice gates to prevent disasters negatively impacts food security and the economy.
I have identified 50 deteriorated sluice gates across Bangladesh and plan to photograph these structures within landscapes. The images will be captured at dawn light mist, using a tripod for stability. The final selection of images, maintaining visual coherence, will be curated for inclusion in a book, with technical aspects influenced by the number of images.