Shahidul Alam, one of the world's leading photographers and Founder and Chairperson of Majority World, was a special guest this week at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva. Shahidul has worked with UNHCR on a number of occasions including the Bangladesh publication, Birthpangs of a Nation, which was awarded the Book of the Year 2012 at the Asian Publishing Convention in Malaysia.

The visit was to explore the opportunities for collaborating with Majority World photographers worldwide on finding the powerful stories that inspire the global community to learn more and to take action for refugees and stateless people.

During a presentation to UNHCR staff, Shahidul used an African proverb to explain why photographers based in the south are so important: "Until the lions tell their stories, stories about hunting will always glorify the hunters. Who tells the story", he adds, determines the story that gets told.

Photographers who were showcased included: Shadi Ghadarian from Iran, Neo Ntsoma from South Africa, and from Bangladesh; Hasan Saifuddin Chandan, Shehzad Noorani and GMB Akash. Shahidul also showed his own work.

Shahidul Alam has had four decades of work documenting the lives of people forced to leave their homes through disaster, or war. He said in response to this challenge: "These are ordinary people wanting to lead ordinary lives who find themselves in extraordinary situations. They could be any one of us".

1 family torn apart by war is too many. Take 1 minute to support a family forced to flee.