Karen Ali

Karen-Margrethe Ali

Born in Norway, educated some in the United States moving over to Bangladesh and staying for 15 years where she raised 5 children.
Now residing back in Norway she occasionally writes for a newspaper relating to foreigners residing in Norway. She has also been published in Bangladesh where she wrote about people suffering with AIDS.

She has had 3 exhibitions of her photographic works: all of  which displayed photos of the people and children from the slums of Bangladesh and one exhibition having either a short hadeeth or surah relating to poor and charity atop of each photograph.

Currently studying Management as well as working at a shelter in Norway and her past experiences in working  slums of Bangladesh has certainly put her Bachelor Degree in Social Work  to good use. Journalist by nature, Humanitarian at heart, and a Realist thinker, she started to learn about Islam back in the USA when she was a student and later accepted Islam in Bangladesh. Stating that she has adapted her life to Islam rather than trying to adapt Islam to her life “as many Muslims try to do here in the west”.

Taking up photography as a means to record the people and places that she visited and to try to keep some memories with her before she traveled back to Norway. Her photography developed into a relationship, a skill and a message – one which she shares diligently.

She is a humanitarian, journalist, realist, a mother and a  muslim photographer, please meet Sister Karen-Margrethe Ali.

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You have said that “Reading the Quran as well as reading about Islam, convinced you to become Muslim”, what was the inspirational or convincing moment that you said “OK now I will become a Muslim”?

It was not such a moment, but it has been a slow journey. I come from a Christian family background, but Islam became the religion that I chose to follow. The more I understood of Islam, the easier it became to be convinced, and to adjust my lifestyle to Islam.

sunrise in Dhaka

How did your family and friends take your conversion?

My friends accepted it easily, but it took my family a longer time to accept it. After I started to wear hijab 8 years ago, they were concerned that people would associate me with terrorists. As they observed that many Muslim women did not wear hijab, they got confused, and asked why it was necessary for me to wear it.

happy slum boys

What are your observations concerning the growth of Islam in Europe?

I am very happy with the fact that there are an increasing number of Muslims in Europe, and that so many of them are so serious about their religion. Many of the young people are more serious than the parent generation, and the knowledge some of them have about Islam is impressive. In Europe you can observe families with daughters wearing hijab, but not their mothers. That tells something.

living by the rail-lines

I understand that you don’t photograph much in Norway where you live but if you did what would be your primary subject matter and why?

I would take more pictures of children; they are so natural and fun to be with. I would also like to take portraits of old people, because of their interesting features.

breakfast by the rail line

You spent 15 years in Bangladesh where you initially picked up the camera, how did you find the people’s response to you photographing them?

I mainly shoot pictures of poor people. Because I do not look like a typical Bangladeshi, they are curious about me. I talk with them first, answer their questions, and tell them about myself, where I come from and why I like to take their pictures. I answer questions that they may have, and I carry a small photo album with me with pictures from Norway, my family etc. occasionally. If possible, I ask them for permission to take pictures. I feel that photography enables me to make friends with people I would not have the chance to get to know otherwise. Most of them seem to be happy to get the attention they get when their pictures are taken.

coal worker

Did you initiate any projects in Dhaka or did you join in with an existing one? If so, what project and what for; what was your incentive?

I started as a coordinator for Landsorganisasjonen LEV, Denmark, working with children with disability in different slum areas of Dhaka. Later on, they encouraged me to start my own NGO (Non Government Organization) and I established one small NGO. When the project term was finished, most of the children were transferred to another NGO, but when I go back to Dhaka, many of them come and visit me.

street sale

In Norway you work for a shelter, are there similarities between shelters in Bangladesh as those in Norway? Can you list those similarities too?

The shelter I work is an emergency shelter for youths, run by the government. The youths are removed from their homes because of violence in the family, or because they are themselves aggressive, sometimes without the parents consent. There is no government or private childcare service in Bangladesh that has the authority to remove children; however I know that some children are kept in private orphanages for a shorter or longer time. There are no authorities in Bangladesh who legally can remove children or youths away from their home without parents consent.

beggar woman and her house

Homeless in Bangladesh must be hard, but living on the streets anywhere is hard: what do you advise someone to do if they find themselves homeless?

I have met many homeless children in Dhaka who have run away from home for different reasons. There are many projects for street children in Dhaka, so I tell them to contact those in order to get shelter and to get the opportunity to get trained or to go to school. I tell them that they should consider going home to “make up” with their family if that is an opportunity.

portrait of beggar woman

Some of your photos have children at rubbish dumps, what are they doing and why?

Those children are assisting their parents, who work in the same place, and they are collecting trash to make ends meet. Many of them are going to school, so they do it before and after school. It should be mentioned that many of these parents do not want their children to work there, not even to come to that area.

a hard day's work

What is your opinion on child labour in Asian countries such as Bangladesh as presented by the western media, is it a good interpretation of the reality? Or is it grossly deceiving?

The western media, at least not here in Norway, is not so interested in writing about poor countries such as Bangladesh, and so not much about child labour is found. What is missing are all the NGOs present in Bangladesh that are focusing on children who are working.  They have done a lot to improve the conditions of these children, awareness-campaigns; giving them opportunity to go to school; education about their rights; UN child convention,  advocating against hazardous work etc.; but the media seldom write about that, they often want the worst stories.
(ILO [International Labour Organization]once tried to stop child labour, and kicked the children out of factories. Research shows that the children’s condition became worse after that had happened, because the poor families need their income.)
A common sight in Bangladesh, is families who are breaking bricks for construction. Mothers who do not have anybody to look after their children, take them to work, and small children playing with bricks is a common sight, some of the older children are actually breaking bricks. But in order to break bricks with a hammer, you have to have some strength. I remember once, I had read a headline in a Norwegian newspaper: “3 year old children in Bangladesh have to work for living!” The journalist had taken a picture of a little boy in that environment, trying to break bricks!  Most of us know that a 3 year old hardly can hold a hammer, [do you think he can] be so obedient and patient that he will sit there breaking bricks to make a living?

trash collectors rest

You have had exhibitions entitled “The Rich Poor”, what are the poor people rich with?

They are living “the real life”, communicating directly, face to face; I think we have lost a great deal of that. They appreciate small things in life; they have less expectation and many seem to be content with less. They seem to be closer to each other, and willing to help each other in any way they can. Many of them have such a strong faith in Allah swt; they seem to rely on Allah swt, more than we do, because they do not have any other to rely on. Their poorness is limited to money, material things and education, not human values. This does not mean that I do not see their sufferings, especially in the slum areas in Dhaka, were people live because they do not have other options and it has a lot of crime. However, as all of us, they are being tested in life, and what poverty do to them, how it effects them, and after many years of working with poor, I think most of them have passed this test very well. They have something that we have lost, or maybe never have had.

roadside quran school

You have written articles about AIDS sufferers in Dhaka can you tell us a little about that experience and how you came to be involved?

I had the opportunity to meet people who were ousted by their community or village because they suffered from AIDS. To visit a girl dying of AIDS and hear how she and her family had been ousted in the village was something I never forget. I started to write stories after that, I wanted people to know. I got the opportunity to travel with one of the greatest photographers in Bangladesh, Mahmud, Map photo agency. He has a special way of interacting with the people he takes pictures of, and is remarkable in that way. He works for well known NGOs in Bangladesh, such as Unicef, Oxfam, Action Aid who are focusing on helping poor. He also teaches photography to students and foreigners from all over the world. I am learning photography from him when I go to Bangladesh, and I have been lucky to go with him on some of these assignments, and this time I met people who are suffering from AIDS.

Don't worry be happy

Do you regard yourself as a journalist with a camera or a photo-journalist?

I still learning to take pictures, so I am just considering myself a student in photography.

Mowgli girl

Are you currently involved in any charities?

No, I donate money through private people or directly.

coal workers

What can we learn from the homeless and their situation?

Learn to appreciate what you have in life, do not judge homeless people. Most of them have had a normal life, something happened and they ended up in the street.

resting trash collector

What would you like to be involved with in the future?

I have and always will work for the less fortunate, hopefully for the poor. I would like to go back to Bangladesh for a shorter or longer period, I have spent most of my adult life there, and I feel I belong there.

rolling beggar

As a mother with 5 children, as a student, as a journalist, as a volunteer worker…SubhanAllah where do you find the time for yourself?

I studied fulltime when the children were small, so I became very structured. My children have been my priority, so I did not work fulltime until they got older. Now, my youngest child is 16 years, so I have more time of my own.

nothing but struggle

Camera in hand, where would you want to be right now to photograph and why?

In Bangladesh. Because it is always something you can take pictures of, and people pose willingly.

Foggy morning in Dhaka

Any photographers that inspire you or you appreciate?

Roy Skogvold, (www.redbubble.com/people/royhs) Trondheim, Norway. He is a good teacher and a creative art photographer, and he always says yes when I ask him for help. As mentioned Mahmud, Map Photo Agency, Dhaka, Bangladesh (www.mapfoto.com.bd). He is hard working photographer and an inspiring teacher.

sand worker

Any tips that you can share for aspiring journalists and photographers?

Show respect for the people you shoot pictures of, ethics is important when you take pictures. If you have the opportunity, ask people first. If you take pictures of children, let them look at the pictures afterwards. Do not become a thief, just shooting pictures without people’s consent. Be empathetic, how do you think the people you have just shot pictures of, feel when you have left? How do you want them to feel? If you can treat poor people with a cup of tea and a biscuit, do it.

sunset in Dhaka

Though photography is not Karen-Margrethe Ali’s main instrument in interacting with her environment it would be good to say that she has the abillity to relay a story and a message through her lens Mashallah.

Thank you Karen-Margrethe Ali for joining us and we pray that Allah Subhanwata’Allah grants you a high place in paradise for your good deeds.
We at muslim-photographer thank you for taking time in sharing part of your world, your words and your images with us.

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