Gmb Akash is an award-winning Bangladeshi photographer who concentrates on people living on the edge of society around the world. He captures their daily lives and stories in photographs and words that push him to places and people he would have never encountered otherwise. His travels give him a deeper understanding of humanity and how he can improve their lives. He has also focused on the impact of the environment on unprivileged people that others rarely see.
His work has been featured in over 100 major publications including Vogue, TIME, The Times and The Sunday Times, Newsweek, Geo, stern, DER SPIEGEL, The FADER, Brand Ein, The Guardian, Marie Claire, Color, The Economist, New Internationalist, Kontinente, Amnesty Journal, Courier International, PDN, DIE ZEIT, Days Japan, HELLO!, and the Sunday Telegraph of London.
The photographs of Gmb Akash have been exhibited all over the world with solo exhibitions in Bangladesh, Laos, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, USA, Charleston, S.C., Qatar, Maldives, as well as in the Czech Republic and Greece.
He has received more than 100 international photography awards and recognition starting in 2002 when he became the first Bangladeshi selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass in the Netherlands. He was the first Bangladeshi to receive the Young Reporters Award 2004 at the Scope Photo Festival in Paris. In 2005 he was awarded ‘Best of Show’ at the Center for International Fine-Art Photography Award competition in Colorado, USA. He won the 2006 World Press Photo award and released his first book ‘FIRST LIGHT’ that same year. Again, he became the first Bangladeshi to be selected for the 30 Emerging Photographers (PDN 30), sponsored by Photo District News Magazine, USA. In Switzerland, he won the 7th Vevey International Photography 2009 Grant. He took home the international ‘Travel photographer of the Year’ 2009 (TPOY 2009) in the UK, the most prestigious award in travel photography. Nikon selected Gmb Akash in 2011 as one of the 8 ‘influencers’ in the Asia Pacific.
In 2012 he presented the results of his 10 year project “Survivors”, with proceeds from the resulting publication going towards helping the subjects of the book establish their own small businesses and become self-sufficient.
He founded the GMB AKASH Institute of Photography in 2013 in Bangladesh teaching students from all over the world. The proceeds from his photography workshops go towards the provision of basic education for street children, underprivileged talented students, and child laborers.
Gmb Akash has been invited to speak and present his work at the 2008 Fifth Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Norway, at the TEDxPorto 2011 in Portugal as the first Bangladeshi to speak at a TEDx event subsequently invited to TEDxHyderabad 2017 as well as the TedxYouth 2019 at Sir John Wilson School in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was also invited to the ‘7th Forum of Emerging Leaders in Asian Journalism’ in 2017, Indonesia. At the National Geographic Exodus Fest in Portugal spoke, exhibited, and gave a master class. He was the featured speaker at FINE ART TALKS in Malé, the Republic of Maldives in the FE AUDITORIUM at The Maldives National University (MNU) 2019. He was a plenary session speaker at the QATAR LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE, October 2019 in Doha as well as giving a workshop.
Various international photography contests have selected Gmb Akash to be on the jury including Friends of the Earth International Photo Competition (The Netherlands), Fine art photography awards 2017(UK), The Worldwide Photography Gala award (UK), the UNESCO Silk Road Photography Contest 2020 and 2021 (France), The Siena 2015 International Photography Awards (Italy), Urban photo award 2015 ( Italy), Humanity photo award 2017 ( China) World Water day photo contest 2020, 2021( Italy), VOUBS INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS 2016 ( Italy), Visions international photo awards 2021 ( France) and many more.
Founder of GMB AKASH Institute of Photography, Dhaka
Website: www.gmb-akash.com
Photography Workshop: www.gmbakashworkshop.com
Facebook Page: GMB Akash
Instagram: www.instagram.com/gmbakash
