The beautiful girl of bangladesh

the Bengali girl with green eyes, have been popular with people all over the world. She has appeared in photography magazines such as Digital Camera World, Photo Review Australia, and is on display and for purchase in book and postcard form at the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition and shop in Kent, London. I thought I’d share the story behind meeting her and taking her portrait.

I only wanted a quiet moment to sit down and rest after a day of exploring and meeting people in a small rural town in Bangladesh. I had been answering the same questions all day: what is my home country, am I travelling as one, and what is my opinion of Bangladesh. I sat down on a grassy hill which overlooked a group of small houses, where the neighbours were outdoors talking and playing games together. It might have only been about 30 seconds until I started to attract a crowd – but this was really no surprise.

I was travelling around Bangladesh for four weeks in December to January 2012. I was travelling as one, but one is never alone in Bangladesh. It’s the people that make this country a great place to visit – I found them to be the most hospitable, curious, outgoing, and open-hearted people I’ve yet to meet.

So when I realised that I was going to be the new centre of attention I got up and started to interact, and joined in a ball game that was going on. People were unafraid to use their broken English and ask me lots of questions. The sun had set and the light was getting low, so I knew that photos would be out of the question. But I saw a girl in the group who really caught my eye – she was wearing a bright green t-shirt with a large red circle on it (the Bangladeshi flag), and she had strong green eyes that matched her shirt. I knew she’d make a great subject for a portrait photo, and I had always wanted to capture a close up portrait of a person with striking green eyes. I introduced myself to her and complimented her on her beautiful eyes. I asked her if I could come back the next day in the afternoon to take her
I came back the following afternoon and her older sister Duly, who spoke some English, could act as a translator. I was invited into their house to meet the family, and was brought tea as well as a present in the form of a notepad. Tuly took me on a tour to see her bedroom, which was well decorated and filled with artworks that she had created – she had told me she wanted to be an artist.