Today is the 87th anniversary of birth of Ekushey Padak-winning photographer Sayeeda Khanam, who is considered the country鈥檚 first woman photographer.
Born in Pabna on December 29, 1937, Sayeeda Khanam completed her master鈥檚 in Bangla and library science from Dhaka University.
Her interest in photography took root from an early age when her sister bought her a Rolleicord camera.
Although she never received any institutional training on photography, she began her career as a photojournalist in the Begum newspaper in 1956.
She also worked for several national newspapers.
Sayeeda had the opportunity of working as a photographer with Oscar-winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Queen Elizabeth, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi and the country鈥檚 founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
She received several awards, including All Pakistan Photo Contest in 1960, UNESCO Award for photography in 1985 and the Ekushey Padak in 2019.
The photographer passed away on August 18, 2021.
