Bronze 2021 / Editorial / Photo Essay (Non-Pro)

The Forbidden Love

  • Photographer
    Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
  • Prizes
    Bronze in Editorial/Photo Essay

“I grow up in terrible loneliness. I wanted to talk to someone but no one was there to listen to me. I left home knowing that no one will come to take me back. I have never lived a normal life. And love has been always forbidden” – Lara (23), a transwoman In Bangladesh, transgender people are subject to extensive daily abuse, having been abandoned by family and friends. Existing in a transphobic society is a barrier to enlightenment as a person in life. The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the LGBTQ+ community at the edge. The economic crisis has put them in helplessness and survival issues.

Mohammad Rakibul Hasan is a Bangladesh-based photographer who won hundreds of photographic competitions worldwide including the Lucie Award, Human Rights Press Award, and Allard Prize. Hasan holds a Certificate in Creative Practices at the International Center of Photography, a Postgraduate Certificate in Photography from Falmouth University, an Undergraduate Certificate in Art History from Oxford University, and a PGD in Photojournalism from Ateneo de Manila University, and graduated in Filmmaking from the University of Sydney. He is currently studying BA (Photography) at Falmouth University.