Photojournalist Abdul Goni, currently a senior photographer at Daily Waadaa, has received an Honourable Mention in the Arts, Culture & Sports category at the 5th Bangladesh Press Photo Contest 2026, organised by Drik Picture Library.
The winners were announced through a Facebook post by Drik on Monday.
Goni, the then photographer at The Daily Ittefaq, received the recognition for a photograph taken on 2 March, capturing the vibrant atmosphere of Chawkbazar's iconic Ramadan iftar market in Old Dhaka.
The image portrays far more than a marketplace. It captures one of Old Dhaka's enduring Ramadan traditions, where thousands of people gather every afternoon to buy iftar. Amid the crowds, vendors work at remarkable speed as colour, movement and human interaction combine to create a festive atmosphere.
Reflecting on the photograph, Goni said he wanted to preserve a moment that embodies the spirit of Ramadan in Dhaka and the shared emotions, traditions and joy experienced by thousands of people each year.
The latest honour adds to a growing list of national and international accolades earned by the photojournalist.
Most recently, Goni received the Imperial Photojournalist Appreciation Award 2026. Earlier this year, his photograph, "Poisoned Colors of the Buriganga", documenting industrial pollution in the Buriganga River, was selected among 35 works from nearly 1,500 submissions for the exhibition "Echoes of the Earth: Photography for the Planet", organised by DHARA and the Bangladesh Press Photo Journalists Association (BPJA).
His achievements in 2025 included winning the Second Prize at the 4th DPC National Photography Competition, organised by the Dhaka Photographers Club and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
The previous year, Goni received a Special Mention at the 'Nirbhoya' International Women's Day Photography Contest, won the Shilpakala Award at the 'Unnayoner Bangladesh, Nandonik Bangladesh' National Photography Contest, and secured Best Photography (Senior Category) at the Earth 360° Nature Through Arts Photography Contest – River and Riverine Lives, organised by the US Department of State and the Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI).
He also received an Honourable Mention at the Bangladesh Press Photo Contest 2024.
Among his 2023 accolades were the Bangladesh Press Photo Contest award in the Picture of the Year 2022 category, a BPS Gold Medal and an FIAP Honourable Mention at the 3rd ABP International Photography Competition & Exhibition, as well as an Acceptance Award at the 9th International Photography Contest, organised by the Izmir Photography and Art Association in Turkey.
Beyond still photography, Goni is the central character in "Goni", a documentary released in 2023 by Drik Picture Library as part of the Untamed Planet series. The film chronicles his journey as a journalist, photographer and formerly trafficked migrant worker investigating the impacts of climate change, sea-level rise and labour migration from Bangladesh to the Middle East.
At this year's Bangladesh Press Photo Contest, Sazid Hossain of Prothom Alo won the Picture of the Year 2025 award, while Md Mazharul Islam and Md Mahmud Zaman of Daily Times of Bangladesh, and Tanvin Tamim of Daily Sun were also among the winners.
The Picture of the Year winner will receive 100,000 taka, while winners in each of the three competition categories will receive 50,000 taka each. The three Honourable Mention recipients will receive 10,000 taka each.
Alongside the winning entries, 30 selected photographs will be exhibited at Drik Gallery in Dhaka later this month.
Drik’s Bangladesh Press Photo started in 2022 to celebrate the skills and courage of frontline news and documentary photographers in the country.