A transgender couple kisses during the COVID-19 outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The third gender population is socially excluded, locally they are called “Hijra”, who typically encounter socio-cultural deprivation from the mainstream society. As they are not entitled to any fixed income, the coronavirus epidemic has locked down them in their home and put them in a financial hazard as most of the people from their community have been facing shortage of food and daily needs. Picture taken on 28 March 2020.
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan is a Dhaka, Bangladesh based documentary photographer, filmmaker and visual artist. His work explores the themes of human rights, social development, migration, gender violence and environment. Hasan was nominated for many international awards and won hundreds of photographic competitions worldwide including Lucie Award, Human Rights Press Award and Allard Prize. His latest exhibition was on ‘Gender Violence and Migration’, organized by UN in Thailand. His photography projects were exhibited in Art Basel, Shanghai Photo Festival, Belgrade Photo Month Festival, and many other galleries across the world. Hasan holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Photography from Falmouth University, UK and an Undergraduate Certificate in History of Art from Oxford University. He also pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Photojournalism from Ateneo de Manila University. And graduated in Film & Video Production from UBS Film School at the University of Sydney. He is currently pursuing a Certificate in Creative Practices (Intermedia) at ICP – International Center of Photography, New York under Director’s Fellowship program via online. He is represented by ZUMA Press, Redux Pictures and °CLAIR Galerie. He is a contract photographer for Thomson Reuters Foundation and contributing photojournalist for the Daily Star. He is a Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Fellow and was a TEDx speaker.