PAPER NEGATIVE
2011-2025
28 paper negatives (4 x 2.5 inches each)
8ft x 38in x 15in
Iron legs, old wooden plank, nails
Wasif revisited his archive of over a decade of work in Old Dhaka to develop Paper Negative, an installation featuring 28 original paper negatives created with the Box Camera in collaboration with photographer Sheikh Mohamad Safdar Hossain. Spanning locations from Beauty Boarding to Shakhari Bazaar and its bustling streets, each negative, marked with pink and red hues of photographic chemicals, bears encounters with the local people.
In collaboration with Sheikh Mohammad Safdar Hossain
Architectural Design – Rashed Chowdhury and Sayedil Ashrafin
Before digital cameras and mobile phones, Box camera studios were common in Old Dhaka, primarily used for official portraits. While Safdar handled the Box camera, Wasif observed, framed, and engaged with the people — together documenting their subjects as they took deep breaths, gazed into the lens, and witnessed their images develop instantly. The subjects, required to hold still, experienced an intimate moment of stillness amidst the public spectacle. This duality—between the collective and the personal—is central to the work, emulating the nature of life itself in the old city.
Kromosho, Bengal Shilpalay, Dhaka
18 April - 31 May, 2025