Photojournalism students and photographers from Bangladesh, Nepal and OsloMet have concluded a 6 week long training program in Nepal. Through workshops and field work the 24 students developed their skills in journalistic research, safety training, project development and photographic storytelling. The British Egyptian photographer Laura El-Tantawy (lauraeltantawy.com) contributed as teacher in the workshops.
Participants and mentors
The participants have worked on stories dealing with freedom of expression, climate change, gender and social issues. «It’s in our nature» is the main title for all the projects.
The students presented their work at the venue Yala Maya Kendra in Kathmandu and the projects will be published in a book and exhibited later in the spring.
Editing
The workshops are part of a long term cooperation between Pathshala South Asia Media Institute from Bangladesh (pathshalainstitute.org), photo.circle from Nepal (photocircle.com.np) and Photojournalism at Department of journalism and media studies at OsloMet.
The photojournalistic collaboration between Bangladeshi and Norwegian institutions was mentioned when Arve Ofstad presented his new book “Norway and Bangladesh A Fifty-Year Relationship 1971-2022” in Oslo 28 October.
Former ambassador Ingebjørg Støfring underlined the importance of trust in international cooperation (Photo: Per-Anders Rosenkvist and Oona Solberg).
Under the headline “Photojournalism – an important tool for the free press” the cooperation between the internationally renowned photojournalist Shahidul Alam and his Pathshala South Asia Media Institute and the photojournalism education in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at OsloMet since 2003 is described:
“They have become familiar with and have adapted to other cultures and have been exposed to new challenges in participating countries. At the same time, they have learned new techniques and acquired an international network. In many countries, journalism is a vulnerable profession, and photojournalists can document events that others want to keep hidden.”
Several previous ambassadors were present when the Norwegian translation of the book was launched in Norad – Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation in Oslo.
The current Norwegian ambassador to Bangladesh, Espen Rikter-Svendsen, drew the line back to 14 April 1972 in his opening. He also told about the ambitious celebration in Dhaka in the spring, when the English translation was launched.
The author Arve Ofstad and ambassador Espen Rikter-Svendsen with the book. (Photo: Per-Anders Rosenkvist and Oona Solberg).
State Secretary Erling Rimestad talked about the successful efforts to reduce poverty and the current challenges regarding freedom of expression and democracy in Bangladesh.
Executive Vice President Rita Skjærvik in Telenor emphasized their contribution to digital development in the country, one of the largest mobile markets in the world.
Environmental anthropologist Camelia Dewan presented her research about the containerships in Chittagong (now Chattogram), and emphasized green recycling.
Director General of Norad, Bård Vegar Solhjell, was born the same year as the cooperation between Norway and Bangladesh started. He pointed to the stunning development the country has gone through, and sees democracy and human rights, climate changes and the size of the Bangla economy as important in the years ahead.
After a month in the field in Nepal, Bangladesh and different European countries working on individual projects, the students returned for a five day online editing workshop led by Munem Wasif.
Munem Wasif from his intro lecture on editing principles.
The editing process was a part of the International Storytelling project 2022 for the 6 students from photo.circle in Kathmandu, 6 students from Pathshala South Asian Media Institute in Dhaka and 9 students from OsloMet.
The week consisted of lectures on the editing process and different editing exercises. The participants edited and gave feedback to each other in groups.
Berlin-based Barbara Stauss, a photo director and founding member of Mare magazine, gave a lecture on editing work in editorial spaces.
Katrin Koenning showing images from her own exhibitions.
Katrin Koenning gave an engaging and personal artist talk where she shared and explained the various processes of editing in books and exhibitions.
The main questions for the students’ individual editing were:
· What is the story all about?
· Does the edit reflect the idea behind the story?
· Does the edit have enough visual variety or is it repetitive?
· Do you develop any logic for editing it?
Students and teachers meeting online for the workshop.
The five day workshop ended Friday April 1 with a an online presentation session, where each of the students had to critique another student’s work.
