This field of mine is likely a football field where there are 21 male players are playing against a female player. People still cannot accept that a girl cinematographer might be equally worthy. People cannot imagine a girl is carrying cameras weighing 30-40 kg. So, I am here to make people see that women can do this. I get in touch with a camera when I started studying media studies department at ULAB (University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh). Since then, I started seeing the whole world with the lens of my camera. Gradually I cherished to operate a large one!
There is no work which is specifically assigned for any particular gender, we are the people who decided the gender of particular job. Why should I decide my career upon someone’s decision which have been made 100s years ago. No task is really easy, each role come with some challenges. Wherever I do work, if I invest the highest talent and hard work, success will come certainly. Women remain quite weak during menstrual cycle, consequently any physical illness can happen to men too, so we shouldn’t judge and underestimate all man or women based on those particular days. we should be supportive to each other regardless of gender.
There are two men who motivated me the most, one is my father and the other one is my teacher Morshed Bipul. I sometimes return home from work even at 3 am or 4 am and I found my father still awake just to open the door for me. Support from my family inspires me the most, they allowed me to do whatever I wanted. If every girl in Bangladesh would gets such support, the position of women could be even stronger in our society.
In the last 8 years, I worked in 150 Television commercials as a cinematographer, as well as 8 documentaries and some short films. Yet I do not think the mentality of the industry has changed a bit. Many of them opined that you could do a regular 9 to 5 job, why are you taking such challenges! These words of empathy give me more strength. I am not here for relaxation, I am here because I want to work hard and want to bring the changes which I dream for. In next 10 years I wish to see more than 200 women cinematographers in Bangladesh Media.
