On the second last day of my trip to Bangladesh for VSO Netherlands I visited the Discovery Cricket Academy (Abahani Cricket ground) in Dhaka. It was a spontaneous visit, without any arrangements or concept in advance. My aim was just to go there, enjoy the experience and try to capture the vibe in a few sports portraits or action photos. The first half hour I felt totally lost in chaos, walking on that massive cricket field. Several groups of cricketers were training, loads of people were watching, it was busy, it was hot and 99% humidity (really…), cricket balls were flying over my head, it was noisy and most importantly… I was tired from the trip :)
Then I realised… I’m in Dhaka, Bangladesh…. on a cricket field packed with with lots of colorful and friendly people … at sunset…. it doesn’t get any better than this!…
So I focussed and started approaching cricketers with my camera. After a few test portraits my eye fell on this young cricketer with white sun block on his face. I decided to use my portable flashlight and umbrella to get more emphasis on the athletes and more drama in the sky. From then everything fell into place. It was just a magical moment where everything happened as if we had practiced. The language was no barrier whatsoever. Everybody seemed to naturally feel what I was on about. I loved it. See allso the short video clip my driver ‘Schumi’ (his name was Said, but we called him Schumi after former F1 driver Michael Schumacher) shot of me during the session.
Back in The Netherlands I sometimes wonder… will the same group practice today on that cricket field? In the same setting? And will they ever make the Bangladesh Cricket Team?
