While visiting the Chobi Mela Photo Festival in Dhaka, Bangladesh in January 2013, I stumbled across Robindra Shorbod, a tiny park in the city’s southwest home to roughly ten street children. Street kids beg for money, gather plastic containers to sell for recycling, and share every ounce of food they earn with their ten dogs.
During the festival, I spent a week with the boys and dogs, learning about their daily routines and methods of survival. I rounded out the week by making a series of portraits. In each of these portraits, the Robindra boys are individuals. But together they become members of a family. A family of two species and members of each species that have been swept aside in one of the world’s largest cities. These portraits show the strength, resilience and most of all, the camaraderie between these orphaned kids and the dogs they have adopted.
“In each of these portraits, the boys are individuals. But together they become members of a family. A family of two species and members of each species that have been swept aside in one of the world’s largest cities. These portraits show the strength, resilience and most of all, the camaraderie between these orphaned kids and the dogs they have adopted.”
The boys were not told to pose – they entered the frame with their favorite companion and the shutter was released. These portraits speak about the ability of these kids – so socioeconomically deprived – to shine as an example of companionship between these two species. Sales of prints from this series go toward funding a follow-up project on the Robindra Boys and supporting Obhoyaronno in 2016.
