In Stillness
In Stillness is a set of 3 handmade artist books The River, The Land and The People housed in a handmade slipcase. The books encompass the experience and longing for the life in Bangladesh. Yet in those moments it transcends the confinement of time and place. That moment of eternity and stillness in crossing the river, immerged into fog, plunging into the sea of life, and plucking a single strand of life. The River is always present, binding the land and people. It is the story of the river and land flowing together. There is no delineation between the river’s end and the lands beginning. The life and the people rise and fall like the harmony of seasons. The Land is the spirit as the breeze brushes through the plains, and the warmth of the sun soaks in the earth. It unfolds the story of everyday life and rituals of The People.
In stillness is a book of life at it’s fullest. Perfect balance of existence. There was no craving of the past, no sense of loss, no greatness to be achieved. In the stillness the curtain between the worlds is lifted. The spirit of us is felt as the breeze brushing through the plans, as the warmth of the sun is soaked in the earth.
In stillness…
I looked from the horizon and the horizon was me…
It is a layered journey through personal realization and the process of reconciling one’s place through photographic exploration.
Photos from the project: In Stillness
Photographs, editing, sequencing: Laila Nahar / Book Concept and Book design: Laila Nahar - / Texts: Tanveer Khondker / Language: English / Self-Published / First Edition of 10 Hand-bound copies in June, 2023 / Excerpted pieces of Rabindranath Tagore and Jasimuddin (in Bangla)
Details of book-structure: 3 handsewn hardcover volumes, each with a tipped in photograph on handmade paper, housed in a slipcase. Each volume handbound with French Link Stitch Binding.
Each volume 8 x 5.5 in
Total 112 pages
100+ photo
Collection
- University of Colorado Libraries, Boulder
To acquire/purchase, please email me.