Lifecycle: with a few exits

In the absence of writing paper, children in a rural school in South-West Bangladesh write with quills on dried palm fronds. It is said that the practice, where the leaves would tear if straight lines were drawn, resulted in the curved writing style of the handwritten Devnagiri script. Photo: Abir Abdullah

While teaching photography in Nepal for a year, Shehab Uddin befriended many of the inmates of an old people’s home in Pashupati Bridhashram. Dipa Thapa, 75, has two pet cats in the shelter. They are her only friends. Photo: Abdul Hamid Kotwal

Residents of Old Dhaka, who live in buildings in dangerous states of disrepair, often cling to their homes out of poverty, or fear of homelessness. A child being lifted from the rubble of a collapsed building bears the marks of poverty, exploitation and corruption. Photo: SHEHAB UDDIN