Ekushey Padak-winning photographer Sayeeda Khanam died at her residence at Banani in Dhaka on Tuesday. She was 82.
She was suffering from kidney disease.
Sayeeda, a lifelong spinster, is considered as the first female photographer of the country.
She is survived by her sister. ‘Sayeeda Khanam was suffering from kidney disease. Her condition deteriorated after she fell down a month ago. She stopped eating on Monday and passed away at around 3:00am on Tuesday,’ filmmaker and activist Munira Murshid Munni told New Age.
She was buried at the Banani graveyard on Tuesday morning after her namaz-e-janaza at a mosque in Uttara sector 7.
Born in Pabna on December 29, 1937, Sayeeda completed her masters in Bengali literature and library science from the Dhaka University.
Her interest in photography began at a very early age when her sister bought her a Rolleicord camera.
Although she never received any institutional training on photography she began her career as a photojournalist in the Begum newspaper in 1956.
She worked for several national newspapers.
Sayeeda had the opportunity of working as a photographer with Oscar-winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Queen Elizabeth, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Mother Teresa, Indira Gandhi and Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In 1960, she received an award in All Pakistan Photo Contest and 1985 she was honoured with UNESCO Award for photography.
She was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2019.
