Bangladesh: Anywhere Is a Place to Sleep

I had long heard about the poverty and overcrowding in Bangladesh. Having visited countries such as the Philippines and India, I thought I knew what to expect. But once I arrived, I found my understanding of poverty and overcrowding raised to an entirely new level.

© Richard Huang

One curious sight was the number of people sleeping everywhere on the streets.

© Richard Huang

Inside the railway station, people slept soundly despite the constant bustle and streams of passersby.

© Richard Huang

If the station is too noisy, perhaps it is a little quieter inside a train?

© Richard Huang

Or why not hang a mosquito net in a corner of the station? Might that make it feel a little like home?

© Richard Huang

The policeman saw that everyone else was asleep and decided to join them. The dog was asleep too.

By now, no one should dispute Bangladeshis’ reputation for being able to sleep anywhere. There are plenty of similar photographs online, many of them showing people sleeping rough. Perhaps because my itinerary was so tight, I did not see much of that. Even when I did, apart from these photographs at the railway station, I generally chose not to include it in my work.

I did take a few photographs of sleeping people for their sheer curiosity value, but most show laborers asleep at their workplaces or beside the tools they use to earn a living. To me, these images afford them more dignity than casual scenes of people sleeping on the street. That idea guided me throughout the trip: amid conditions that could hardly be worse, I wanted my choices behind the camera to convey a little more dignity and a little more beauty. Of course, despite my efforts, the results may still be contentious. Take the coal-blackened faces, for example. Many people see them differently and consider them ugly. I do not. These people support their families on meager wages earned through grueling labor. However dirty and exhausting the work may be, there is dignity in it. To me, there is beauty as well.

But enough digression. Let us see how these laborers sleep.

© Richard Huang

Watching the cattle? They are tethered, after all—they are not going anywhere. Time for a nap…

© Richard Huang

The potatoes are not going anywhere on their own either. Time for a nap…

© Richard Huang

Worn out from hauling goods—time for a quick nap…

© Richard Huang

The way this man was sleeping on the basket was unusual, so I asked a friend whether it could possibly be comfortable. He explained that the basket was the man’s means of earning a living. People were afraid it might be stolen while they slept, so many simply slept on top of their baskets.This photograph was published on 1x.com.

Interesting, isn’t it? Bangladeshis may be able to sleep soundly anytime and anywhere, but my camera is selective. I hope that while my photographs reflect reality, they can also contain a little more kindness and beauty.