Two of pdfX12 photographers selected for PDN's 30 2008

Munem Wasif (vol.1 and 12) and coming up next issue contributor and photographer Mickhael Subotzky have been selected two of 30 PDN's 30 2008.
Congratulations!

Here is the instorudction about Munem Wasif on PDN's 30 2008

PDN's 30 2008: Munem Wasif
Our Choice of New and Emerging Photographers to Watch
March 03, 2008
By Anthony LaSala


With an indefatigable spirit and unwavering principles, Bangladesh-based Munem Wasif has made a name for himself by tackling challenging socio-political issues and creating images that echo those of Sebastião Salgado. His dedication to uncovering the injustices of the world around him is well represented in his photographs and his words.

"I am a documentary photographer. I think my work starts when news photographers finish theirs," says Wasif. "And I think I'm interested in those stories which don't come in the daily headline of the news."

Those stories have included the near slavery of the women who pick tea leaves in India and Bangladesh and the struggles of fishermen of Dublar Char. His coverage of the closing of once-prosperous jute mills across Bangladesh is equally powerful—with many images echoing the sorrow that pulsed through the FSA photographs of Dorothea Lange and Ben Shahn.

"In our childhood we read in school that jute is a golden fiber. It carries huge amounts of foreign currency into our country," says Wasif. "So the golden time of jute has a memory in our unconscious mind. When I heard that all the big jute mills in our country were going to be closed, I wanted to photograph the labor and the ongoing crisis. At that time there was a big blockade going on: I saw a huge amount of people protesting in the streets for their due salary. Police shot many protesters. Mothers were crying when they saw me—they thought I could make some change for them. But I feel so helpless, because what can I do? After that I visited the mill many times and my work is not finished yet."

Now with Agence Vu, Wasif began his career working for the Daily Star—the leading English language newspaper in the Middle East. In his school days, Wasif found inspiration from another documentary photographer: the great Indian photographer Raghu Rai. "I am inspired by his old black-and-white work on India," says Wasif. "The magical moments he captured in the ordinary daily life in India, the space he distributes within his frame among people, the people he photographed—these things are very influencing factors for me. Because I also live in the very same land, I can smell his photographs."