The Photojournalist - Sayeda Khanam

Sep 20, 2026

The story traces Sayeda Khanam’s life from her birth in 1937 in Pabna to her breakthrough as East Pakistan’s first female photojournalist. It highlights how she found purpose through a Rolleicord camera, pursued photographic stories for major magazines, and persisted despite names and stone-throwing. Through images seen from a woman’s perspective, she documents female volunteers’ training during the Liberation War and later captures the victory parade, forming lasting friendships including with Satyajit Ray.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Sayeda Khanam’s Early Life and Camera

Photojournalism Career and Challenges

Liberation War Coverage and Victory Parade

Recognition and Ongoing Inspiration

Publication and Licensing Information

The Photojournalist: Sayeda Khanam HerStory Foundation সািরয়া সােগৗর Sayeda Khanam was born in 1937in Pabna, on the bank of the Ichhamoti river . She loved to freeze time, at first in her mind and then with a camera . She became the first female photojournalist in East Pakistan. Sayeda was lucky to have many brothers and sisters, and each one was talented in a unique way. They were always making music, art and stories together. One day her older sister gave Sayeda a Rolleicord camera . Through its lense Sayeda could see the world like she had never seen it before! It was exciting and dramatic and from the very first click, Sayeda knew that this is what she wanted to do. Sayeda Khanam became a photojournalist, someone who records events and places through photographs. She worked for the important magazines Begum and Chitrali, and traveled everywhere with her camera, looking for stories. Most of the time people smiled and posed for her, but sometimes they called her names and a few people even threw stones at her. But Sayeda ignored them and continued to look at the world through her lens. 4 The photos of Sayeda Khanam show many great moments and important events, but from the point of view of a woman . She shot the training camps of the female volunteers during the Liberation War, and when the war was over, she photographed the victory parade. Sayeda was never shy, not even while photographing great icons like Satyajit Ray, Queen Elizabeth II or Kazi Nazrul Islam . The cinematographer Satyajit Ray became a lifelong friend and encouraged her to keep looking for new photostories. He understood how hard it was for a girl to bea photographer in a man’s world. Taking pictures became the greatest joy of Sayeda Khanam’s life, and she told many great stories through her photographs. 7 This inspiring story is part of the HerStories collection originally created by the HerStory Foundation and adapted into individual books in collaboration with The Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read initiative. For more information about HerStory, please visit [www.herstorybd.org](www.herstorybd.org) Brought to you by Let’s Read is a program of The Asia Foundation that supports early reading skills and habits to develop our next generation of critical thinkers and creative innovators in Asia and the Pacific. To read more books like this and get further information, visit: [letsreadasia.org](letsreadasia.org) Original Story The Photojournalist: Sayeda Khanam. Author: HerStory Foundation. Illustrator: সািরয়া সােগৗর . Editor: Zareen Mahmud Hosein, Katerina Don, Anita Amreen, Tairan Razzak. Released under CC-BY-NC-4 .0. This work is a modified version of the original story. @ The Asia Foundation, 2020. Some rights reserved. Released under CC-BY-NC-4 .0. For full terms of use and attribution, [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) Contributing translators: Eric Langendorff

FAQs

Why is Sayeda Khanam considered a pioneering figure in her field?

She became the first female photojournalist in East Pakistan and recorded events and places through photographs for major magazines.

What camera experience changed Sayeda’s direction?

Her older sister gave her a Rolleicord camera, and through its lens Sayeda saw the world in a new way and knew photography was her calling.

What historical events did Sayeda photograph?

She shot training camps of female volunteers during the Liberation War, and after the war she photographed the victory parade.

Sep 20, 2026

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