East Pakistan Photographic Society

East Pakistan Photographic Society was established in Dhaka as a branch of the Pakistan Photographic Society in East Pakistan in 1950 at the initiative of Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury (Health Minister of the provincial government), G A Farouqui (Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department), EM Patel (Executive, Burma Shell), Himangshu Dutta (Proprietor, My Studio), Azmal Haque (Member, Royal Photographic Society of England) and some noted amateur photographers such as MA Zaydi, Fazle Hossain and Amanul Haque.

Soon after its establishment, the society took part in an international photo exhibition held at Karachi and in the Pak-British Joint Photographic Exhibition organised by the Royal Photographic Society as part the Festival of Britain that marked the coronation of Queen Elizabeth the Second. Later, it took part in the World Photographic Exhibition held at the Leeds Art Gallery, Photokina Award Festival in Germany, and UNESCO World Exhibition of Photography in Switzerland.

The society did not survive long largely because of organisational weaknesses. The political instability in both the provinces of Pakistan during the 1960s was also a contributing factor. However, in 1975, Bangladesh Photographic Society was established as a new organisation at the initiative of MA Beg. [Amanul Haque]