About

Exploring People,
Media, and Everyday Worlds

Moiyen Zalal Chowdhury
Anthropologist • Researcher • Photographer • Writer

Moiyen Zalal Chowdhury

Anthropologist • Researcher • Photographer • Writer

I am an anthropologist, researcher, photographer, and writer exploring the intersections of culture, technology, activism, and everyday life. My work sits where human experience meets the digital world—where emotions, algorithms, politics, and imagination shape how people live, resist, and create meaning.


Academic Journey & Teaching

I have taught across Bangladesh and Japan, working with diverse communities of students and scholars.

Institutions I have taught at include:
– BRAC University
– University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB)
– Jahangirnagar University
– Hiroshima Jogakuin University, Japan
– Counter Foto: Center for Visual Arts

My teaching focuses on:
– Digital culture & social media
– Visual anthropology
– Contemporary anthropological theory
– Ethnography of everyday life
– Political anthropology

I aim to blend rigorous theory with lived experience, encouraging students to think critically, ethically, and creatively.


Research Interests

My research spans South Asia, Japan, and global digital cultures, with interests in:

– Digital activism & political expression
– July 2024 Revolution & movement cultures
– Misinformation and transnational digital flows
– Youth, identity & online sociality
– OTT-based digital sociality
– Islamic public sphere & digital religiosity
– Authoritarianism & public discourse
– Visual storytelling & ethnography

I use ethnography, photography, and critical theory to understand how people navigate power, technology, and everyday uncertainties.


Creative Identity — Sharat chowdhury

Online, I am widely known as Sharatchowdhury, one of the early Bangladeshi bloggers who shaped public discourse on Somewhereinblog.net since 2006.

My writing explores:
– Memory & cities
– Love, loss, tenderness
– Political disillusionment
– Digital life & resistance
– The emotional lives of ordinary people

My creative work blends emotion and intellect, personal depth and political insight.


Visual Storytelling & Photography

Photography is central to my practice. I focus on:

– People at the centre
– Everyday life in Dhaka
– Quiet landscapes of Japan
– Urban crisis & resilience
– Portraits and documentary work

My photographs have been exhibited and featured in public events, including the Urban October Photo Exhibition (2025). I also work with students on visual anthropology projects through Counter Foto.


Public Engagement

My work extends to media, public lectures, and regional collaborations. I contribute to conversations on:

– Digital culture
– Social movements
– Misinformation
– Youth politics
– Visual storytelling

I believe scholarship must remain connected to public life—accessible, reflective, and grounded.


My Purpose

Across research, teaching, writing, and photography, I return to one question:

How do people create hope, meaning, and resistance in a world shaped by technology, power, and uncertainty?

This website brings together all parts of my practice—academic, creative, visual, and digital—so readers, students, collaborators, and wanderers can explore the worlds I engage with.