For those who have read about our first trip to the Heavenly Garden (the place called SHARAVO) already know what a breathtakingly marvelous place it is, to begin with. It is, to express it concisely, the nature-lover’s dream, the photographer’s solace. There are just so many things to capture on film (or to be more accurate, memory card) that time seems to stop at times, and one can lose oneself with the trees swaying in the breeze, smelling the flowers, and listening to the birds sing while walking the perfectly manicured lawns, fields and walkways. And let us not forget that, armed with his/her respective cameras, every budding photographer presents his/her own perspective and a point of view to the world, which in the end means that every photo taken is unique!
Department of Advertising of AIUB lead by our dear Sir, Niaz Majumdar (course teacher for Digital Imaging) in conjunction with the South Asian Institute of Photography (PATHSALA) organized a workshop called “ Nature Study”, at the Heavenly Garden, on the 28th. of August. This time the students of FASS were joined by Lu Shanshan (Shan), Wang Zhongjie (Leah), Zeng Shuru (Freya), Wen Shipei (Ryan), and Yang Qiongzhen (Pearl), who are students of the Cheung Kong School Of Journalism and Communication of the esteemed Shantou University (Guangdong, China). Our Chinese friends had travelled from their homeland for a month-long photography tour of Bangladesh, and we (the AIUBians) took the opportunity to get to know them and exchange their international perspective, while enlightening them about our Motherland, our culture, and our people. They were very friendly from the first handshake, and everybody made at least five new friends that day!
We set out from AIUB Campus 7 at 10:30 am, and were very glad not to encounter much traffic. Upon arrival, we found that due to the changing seasons, the garden was not visually as overwhelming by the flora as we witnessed the last time. That is not to say that the amazing variety and perfection of the planted flowers was absent, but the striking varieties of spring flowers were now replaced by different ones amidst more greenery to accommodate the monsoon flora. Clear blue skies and huge, fluffy cumulonimbus clouds provided the perfect backdrop for our landscape photos, while the variety of flowers, garden-bugs, and birds challenged those with a hunger for macro-photography. The shifting clouds and bold sunshine provided ample opportunity for the photographers to add more drama to their pictures.
Walking, clicking away and wiping our brows as we were, the conversation never stopped. We had enough questions for our Chinese friends, and they had enough questions for us. There were a few awkward moments when we had to tell and retell a joke (and then explain through cultural perspectives), but at the end of the day, we were a bunch of very happy photographers, local and international alike!
Once the afternoon heat got on us, we temporarily retired to the banglow, where everybody met the owner of the Heavenly Garden, Mr.O.K. Chowdhury and those not fasting had a fabulous lunch. And then, once everybody had filled their memory cards with beautiful snaps and happy memories, we once again set out for Dhaka.
A huge thanks goes to Mr. O.K. Chowdhury for allowing us to be there and for his kind hospitality. We would also like to thank the Advertising Department of AIUB (and of course, Niaz Sir) and PATHSALA for arranging the workshop for us. We had a great time, made new friends, and of course, took a lot of pictures, which should be available in our second upcoming Photography Exhibition at AIUB’s Advertising Department Gallery!
-Students of Advertising Department, FASS, AIUB
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