Andrew Biraj ( bn, এন্ড্রু বিরাজ; born 1982) is a Bangladeshi photojournalist.

Biography

Andrew Biraj is a Bangladeshi photojournalist currently based in Washington DC. Biraj has worked for the international news agencies

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, AFP, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Sipa Press Sipa Press is a French photo agency based in Paris. Overview It was founded 1973 by the Turkish newsphotographer and photojournalist Gökşin Sipahioğlu together with American writer Phyllis Springer, concentrating their activities from the beg ...

and

Getty Images Getty Images Holdings, Inc. is an American visual media company and is a supplier of stock images, editorial photography, video and music for business and consumers, with a library of over 477 million assets. It targets three markets— creative ...

. He holds an advanced diploma in photography from

Pathshala Drik Picture Library is a photography agency and picture library based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Background Drik Picture Library was established in 1989 by Bangladeshi writer and photographer Shahidul Alam and Bangladeshi writer and anthropolog ...

, the South Asian Institute Media Academy in Bangladesh, and a B.A (honors) in photography & video from

the University of Bolton , established = 2004 – gained University Status 1982 – Bolton Institute of Higher Education , type = Public , endowment = £160,000 (2009) , administrative_staff = 700+ , chancellor ...

, UK. Biraj is a winner of the prestigious 2008

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

Joop Swart Masterclass grant. He has won numerous national and international awards including Best Portfolio (in 2013) and a second prize (in 2013) in The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar Contest in the US, an Honorable Mention (in 2013) in the ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'' Photo Contest, a third prize (in 2011)

award in the Netherlands, a second prize (in 2013) in

Pictures of the Year International Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is a professional development program for visual journalists run on a non-profit basis by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. POYi began as an annual competition f ...

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...

, a third prize (in 2010) and a first prize (in 2008) in the

National Press Photographers Association The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is an American professional association made up of still photographers, television videographers, editors, and students in the journalism field. Founded in 1946, the organization is based in at ...

of America's Best of Photojournalism awards; a gold award (in 2013) a silver award (in 2011) and a bronze (in 2007) in the China International Press Photo Contest; the 2010 Award of Excellence in Feature Photography, from the Society of Publishers in Asia, and the 2010

South Asian Journalists Association The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) was founded in 1994 in New York City. Sree Sreenivisan, Dilip Massand, M.K. Srinivasan and Om Malik co-founded SAJA as a networking organization for South Asian journalists. It is a group of more th ...

award for an outstanding photograph about South Asia. Biraj has been published in ''National Geographic'' magazine, ''Time'' magazine, ''The New York Times'', ''International Herald Tribune'', ''Wall Street Journal'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The Guardian'', ''The Observer'', ''The Times'', ''Paris Photo'', ''Le Monde'', ''Sydney Morning Herald'', ''Newsweek'', ''Stern'', ''Asian Geo'', ''Hindustan Times'' and many other international publications. His work has been featured in exhibitions and screenings worldwide, including Visa Pour l'Image, in Perpignan, France, the Angkor Photo Festival in Cambodia, Yangon Photo Festival in Myanmar, the International Photography Biennial of the Islamic World in Iran, Noorderlicht Photo Festival in The Netherlands, the Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Japan, the Church of Santa Maria della Pietà in Venice, Italy, the National Art Gallery in Malaysia, Drik Gallery and in The University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Biraj exhibited his long-term project ''Bonded Stitches & Struggle; Testimony of Life In Bangladesh’s Garment Industry'', on the one year anniversary of the collapse of

Rana Plaza The 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse (also referred to as the 2013 Savar building collapse or the Collapse of Rana Plaza) was a structural failure that occurred on 24 April 2013 in the Savar Upazila of Dhaka District, Bangladesh, where an eigh ...

, which has been attended by more than 10,000 visitors in Bangladesh. The exhibition took place from April 22- May 1, 2014, simultaneously in three different venues including an open-air show near the collapsed building site in Savar, Bangladesh. Biraj has been invited to nominate candidates from more than 65 countries of Asia and Africa for the 2017

Prince Claus Fund The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

Awards in The Netherlands. He was also a nominator of 2017 UNICEF Photographer of the Year competition and a professional portfolio reviewer for the graduate student in

Corcoran School of the Arts and Design The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design (known as the Corcoran School or CSAD) is the professional art school of the George Washington University, in Washington, DC.Peggy McGloneUniversity names first director of Corcoran School of the Arts and ...

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

in Washington DC. He has also been in the jury panel in numerous photography competitions and exhibitions in Bangladesh arranged by Dhaka University Photography Society, BUET Photography Society, Bangladesh in Frames by Through The Lens Bangladesh, Rabi Telecom and many others. Biraj is the co founder and a lifetime member of Counter Foto Photography Department in Bangladesh, which was established in 2012. Biraj is a co-editor and co-author of the book Under the Banyon Tree! He self-published his first book ''Insight'' in 2011. Counter Foto published his second book ''Bonded Stitches & Struggle; Testimony of Life In Bangladesh’s Garment Industry'' (Bengali Version) in April, 2014.

Exhibitions and screenings

* Visa Pour l'Image, Perpignan, France * Open exhibition near collapsed Rana Plaza building site and University of Dhaka campus * Angkor photo festival in Cambodia * Yangon Photo Festival in Myanmar * International Photography Biennial of the Islamic World in Iran * Noorderlicht photo festival 'Act of Faith' in The Netherlands * Kiyosato Museum of Photographic Arts in Japan * National Art Gallery in Malaysia * Drik Gallery in Bangladesh and University of Bolton in UK

Bibliography

* ''Insight'', 2011 * ''Bonded Stitches & Struggle; Testimony of Life In Bangladesh’s Garment Industry'' by Counter Foto, 2014 * ''Under the Banyan Tree'' by

2010 * ''Our world Now'' by

, 2010,2011, 2013 * ''Balance'' by

Awards

JoopSwart Masterclass grant in 2008. *

award, Third prize in 2011. * Best Portfolio award in The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar Contest in 2013. *

, Second prize (in 2013). *

of America's Best of Photojournalism awards, Third prize (in 2010) and a first prize (in 2008). *

Photo award, Honorable Mention in 2013. * China International Press Photo Contest, Gold award (in 2013), silver award (in 2011) and bronze (in 2007). * Society of Publishers in Asia award, Award of Excellence in Feature Photography in 2011. *

award for an outstanding photograph about South Asia in 2010. * FotoVisura Grant for Outstanding Personal Photography Project in 2015. * PX3 Prix De La Photographie Paris, Honorable Mention in 2010. *

International Photography Awards The International Photography Awards are a group of awards for professional, non-professional and student photographers on a global scale which are awarded annually at the Lucie Awards gala. The winners of the main categories are invited to attend t ...

, Honorable Mention in 2010. * Venice International Photo Contest, Second Prize (in 2007)

References

General references

* *
Reuters Wider Image

* ''

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

Andrew Biraj in New Age

Bangladesh Dreams- Vogue Italy
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Biraj, Andrew Living people 1982 births Bangladeshi photographers Bangladeshi journalists Alumni of the University of Bolton