Call Me Heena
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Hardcover, foil stamped linen
Size: 19 x 24 cm, Duotone printing
104 pages including a pop-out leporelllo and 8 pages printed silver on black paper
16-page booklet on cover, 20-page booklet inside
500 copies
ISBN 978-3-946099-37-6
Photography & text: Shahria Sharmin
Concept & Design: Calin Kruse
Editing: Calin Kruse, Yana Kruse
Text proofreading: Jessica Mewburn-Lanitis
Lithography: Antonis Granis
Printing & binding: Future Format, Greece
Shahria Sharmin
58,00€
Call Me Heena is a personal and visual exploration of the Hijra community in Bangladesh
and India — those who live beyond the male-female binary, often misunderstood and pushed
to the margins, yet deeply rooted in South Asian history.
Once revered in Hindu and Muslim traditions, Hijras held sacred roles in royal courts and religious ceremonies. Colonial laws erased that respect, branding them as outcasts. Today,
many still face violence, poverty, and social exclusion.
My journey began with Heena, who welcomed me into her life with honesty and trust.
Through her, I came to know the everyday realities and quiet resilience of this community — women who bless weddings, build chosen families, and long for love and dignity like
anyone else.
This work is my attempt to listen — to witness lives too often overlooked, and to reflect
the tenderness, strength, and survival I have encountered over more than a decade of
knowing them.
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Shahria Sharmin (b. Bangladesh) is a visual artist and documentary photographer based in Dhaka. With a background in Public Administration, she turned to photography as a way to explore questions of identity, belonging, and gender. Shahria’s practice is rooted in long-term, empathetic engagement. She often focuses on stories of family, loss, and social exclusion, using her camera not just to witness, but to build connection. Preferring a slow and tactile approach, she frequently works with a hand-built wooden street box camera — a tool that invites slowness, intimacy, and mutual trust.
Her ongoing project Call Me Heena, which documents the lives of the Hijra (transgender) community in Bangladesh and beyond, reflects her deep commitment to challenging cultural norms and imagining alternate forms of kinship.
Shahria’s work exists at the intersection of tenderness and quiet resistance — a visual meditation on the possibility of finding home among those pushed to its edges.
