Samsul Alam Helal is a documentary photographer based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

He completed his graduation in photography from Pathshala South Asian Media

Institute.

His recent work Love Studio depicts the portraits of a working class community

where an old studio in Dhaka transforms into a neighborhood venue to

represent the dreams, hopes and desires of the factory workers, their families

and unemployed neighbors. In his another portrait series on Hijra (transgender

community), the camera homes in on the unfolding drama, nothing but a

short razzmatazz, that reads like a narrative, and exotic hieroglyphics as the

protagonists represented make dancing and singing for an absent audience, or as

an end in itself.

Helal wants to tell the stories of people and especially the groups of minority

and the neglected class. Through his photographs, he explores their identity,

dreams and longings to raise our curiosity and question. He often likes to stage

in a studio setup where dramatic moods and vibrant colors are loudly presented.

In oppose to mere fiction, Helal’s work represents a reality in an alternate space.