Expanding the Documentary: In Conversation with Ashfika Rahman

Ashfika Rahman from Bangladesh studied photography at the Hochschule Hannover, Germany and at the Pathshala (South Asian Media Institute) in Dhaka, where she is now a faculty member. In the first episode of this two-part interview, we delve into her process as a documentary photographer and as an artist, examining the shifting boundaries between these modalities of practice. Through her various photographic projects, Rahman explores entrenched power structures and social hierarchies in different communities, especially those which have been marginalised and/or persecuted by the state. Recently, Rahman received the Stitching Screens—a new grant introduced by the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) and the Samdani Art Foundation (SAF)—for a project with the Indian artist Amol K. Patil. We shall discuss their plans for this collaborative effort in the upcoming second part of this interview. 

^{(Featured Image: From the Series Files of the Disappeared. Photograph with Hand-stitching by Ashfika Rahman. Bangladesh, 2018-Ongoing. Image courtesy of the artist.)}

Interview with Anisha Baid, 6th Jan 2021

To watch the second part of this interview, please search for "Photography as Journal: An Interview with Ashfika Rahman" in the Grants section.

If you would like to explore some of Ashfika Rahman’s work, please search for “Rape is Political: Ashfika Rahman’s Portraits from the Khagrachari Hills” in the Albums section.