Ismail Ferdous / Sea Beach

Ismail Ferdous first visited Cox's Bazar as a young boy; it was his parents' first holiday together. Growing up in Dhaka, he returned throughout his youth, first with family, later with friends. From early days playing in its sands to coming of age through the free roaming of adolescence, and now decades on returning as an adult, this beach on the Bay of Bengal has remained an enduring presence in his life.

Cox's Bazar is where people from across the districts, dialects, religions, and social strata of Bangladesh come together, as if in a diorama. Ordinary life is illuminated by the refraction of sunlight on the sea, animating the rich breadth of Bengali and indigenous cultural heritage.

The journey outward leads inward, and the further Ismail has traveled, the more he has come to perceive the landscapes of origins. Sea Beach is touchstone and gateway. Waves repeat endless cycles of departure and return, as with every shoreline on Earth, and we find a communal crossroad here between vastness and intimacy.

Shortlisted for First Photo Book Award at Paris Photo–Aperture Photo Book Awards 2024

Language: Bengali, English
Size: 28 × 20 cm, 156 pages
Binding: hardcover
Publisher: Imageless, 2024