Mohd. Hatim bin Bahari, not a name that many would have heard of; he is not a renowned celebrity photographer in Malaysia. Why would I write about such a person then?

All will be explained later on this post but first, some background.

Mr. Hatim is the father of one of my friends, though I have heard of him through my friend, I have not had the privilege of meeting him until yesterday morning. He was a professional photographer for 19-years and in his prime, he was struck down by stroke. It was completely unexpected and caught the family by surprise, my friend, the only son in the family had to suddenly bear the burden of supporting the entire family as well as to take care of his now bed-ridden father.

Eventhough Mr. Hatim has been a photographer for so many years and his quality of work certainly deserves to be exhibited, his work has never been exhibited before anywhere and in any form.

And with his current condition, someone finally decides to host an exhibition of his work under various banners, names and sponsors… a politician even came to officiate the exhibition for him.

Though the photo exhibition can be said to be a kind and positive act by a caring society or even a good government but can’t it be also considered bitter irony when we celebrate Mr. Hatim’s work only when he can’t even get up to greet us?

I and many others would surely prefer to be able to shake his hand and had a good long chat about his life as a photographer and how he sees the world in general… but this is a bit late, isn’t it?