Ismail Ferdous is a Bangladeshi photographer and filmmaker who lives in New York City. Ismail is interested in social, cultural, and humanitarian stories of the contemporary world. A member of Agence VU in Paris, he began photography while he was studying in business school in Dhaka. He decided to break his family tradition and not work in business and has instead pursued a career as a professional photographer last ten years.
After the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Dhaka in 2013, one of the worst industrial disasters in Bangladesh’s history, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,100 workers, Ferdous work made a plea against the devastating effects of the “fast fashion” industry on Bangladesh, especially with his documentary film and photo projects “The Cost of Fashion” and “After Rana Plaza.” Ismail’s curiosity about geography and migration influenced his prolific work on migrations and refugees over four continents, which shows unique human conditions and tells their stories.
Ismail’s enjoyed working with important international newspapers, magazines, and corporate clients. Some of his major clients are The New York Times Magazine, Geo Magazine, Washington Post, Le Monde M magazine, Hermes, and many others. Since 2017 he has frequently contributed to National Geographic Magazine on many stories.
Ismail has received awards from World Press Photo and Picture of the Year International, as well as the Alexa Foundation grant and Getty Images Instagram grant, for his work.