My photo book ‘Survivors’ is not only an important presentation of my 10 years’ work, but it is also significant to me in many ways.

“My photo book ‘Survivors’ is not only an important presentation of my 10 years’ work, but it is also significant to me in many ways. Surviving in a poor country — facing adversity daily — is akin to a lifetime of tragedy. So, in a number of ways, the images presented on these pages depict my own experiences as well. My journeys connect me to the many characters. Sometimes, I had to run, take a ride on the roof of a moving train, sleep on a flooded floor, and spend many hours walking the maze of avenues through sprawling city slums. While photography is a big task, my willingness to serve the people whom I photograph is even more challenging. I am gifting a business/source of income to each family I am able to help from my book ‘Survivors’. Finding people from the book whom I captured 5-15 years ago, talking/sharing ideas with them, finding the right business, and educating them, and monitoring them become tougher than photography. But I believe every amazing achievement starts with an impossibility. Now, after seeing these happy families of Survivors, I realize that, when many ordinary people come together and do small things, they can change the world. – GMB Akash