Series description
‘What is the city but the people?’ — William Shakespeare Jubair Ahmed Arnob returns in memory to Green Model Town, Dhaka, Bangladesh, where the rivers, canals, ponds, and fields that once held laughter are now buried under concrete. Over three years, he has photographed disappearing landscapes in a dreamy, surreal style, layering images with memory and emotion. Urbanisation can erase rivers, homes, and joy, yet communities persist. This work carries memory beyond fact, reflecting Dhaka’s transformation while resonating with cities worldwide facing similar losses.
Where the Water Once Was
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, Arnob photographed the Balu River, now a makeshift playground. A solitary horse watches quietly as people gather, reclaiming joy and togetherness amid a vanishing landscape. This image opens the series, reflecting how communities preserve memory, even as urbanisation erases the past.
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Whispers in the Last Green
In the shadow of looming city blocks, a couple stands in tall grass, facing the remaining untamed land. Their presence is intimate and defiant, a claim to a disappearing space. Amid creeping concrete, nature lingers like a fading memory, a tender pause before this green sanctuary is erased.
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
The River Without Fish
The fish belong in the river, but the river is gone. A man stands in the water, while balloons shaped like dolphins float above, a parody of joy. Nature is replaced by plastic, survival is presented as celebration. Urbanisation turns rivers into markets, creatures into commodities, and memory into something fleeting.
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
The Migration of Dreams
A young family stands in tall grass, children held close, framed by rising buildings. The image evokes resilience and tenderness amid vanishing nature and advancing concrete. The photographer notes, ‘the parents embody adaptation and migration, while their children’s innocence contrasts with looming towers, hinting at hope and uncertain futures.’
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Pillars of Tomorrow
Concrete posts rise like skeletal frames against a hazy night sky, staking claims on once-open ground; bicycles lean at their base, holding onto fleeting freedom. The scene is in-between: no longer nature, not yet city. For those who once played here, these pillars are omens of a future shaped by profit.
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
City of Illusions
What was once a flowing river has been buried under concrete and profit-driven development. In its place, a park with neon rides and music draws families and children, seeking joy. Bubbles float through the night, a fragile, fleeting reminder of happiness over the river that once sustained life.
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
The Colonial Cage
People rent boats for two dollars, while billboards show private ownership of riverside spaces in Dhaka. Once free areas for swimming and play are now controlled by private owners, depleted by sand-lifting, and monetised. Arnob explains that the places of childhood joy are lost to urbanisation, leaving only frustration and memories.
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards
Traces of Togetherness
Rows of high-rise buildings form an artificial horizon, while wild, undeveloped land stretches in the foreground, a remnant of what once was. Each lit window marks a household, a vertical community, different from the open, horizontal gatherings that once filled fields and waterways.
© Jubair Ahmed Arnob, Bangladesh, Shortlist, Student Competition, Together, 2026 Sony World Photography Awards