Not even a pillow. A bench of width: one and half feet, length: 5 feet…, a yard at your house could rest her in peace. She could be happy reasoning that she is within her family. But the fact is she feels alone when she remembers her previous day, where she had everything. Khaled Hasan/Alexia Foundation

Today’s photo of the day is from Khaled Hasan’s 2009 student award of excellence project, “Dream within boundaries: some real memories” examining the lives of elderly people who live in retirement homes in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is a very traditional country and one in which people care for their aging relatives in their own homes. Today, however, as the nation modernizes, more people are sending their parents to live in homes for the elderly. It is said, he notes, that this is a result of globalization, an imitation of the behavior of western societies.

The women in the images tend to be very sad. They feel abandoned by their families and have very little energy. The trees create a lovely frame for this elderly women reclining on a bench. The floral pattern on the wrap is brighter than one would expect. The image itself has a soft sepia tone, conveying the idea of aging.

The men in the retirement home seem more content, perhaps because they chose this fate. Many of the men have never married or had families, so they had no one they expected to care for them in their old age.

Hasan’s work will be included in the upcoming exhibition, Right Before Your Eyes: Photography Driven by Social Change at the United Nations in New York from Aug. 16-Sept. 10.

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