From a young age Mahfouz was drawn to photography, very much inspired by the photographs his father took with his 120 film box camera.
He was husband to Dr Nirafat Alam Shipra who made major contributions in her field of working with deaf children in education.
Although his eye for calculating frames and imagining shots in his mind was invaluable to this role, his heart was really set on being a cinematographer.
This meant splitting 1000 film reels into three parts (300, 300, and 400) in a completely dark room, measuring by hand and the imagination.
From the outset he was fortunate to work with very experienced talented cinematographers like Shadon Roy, Baby Islam, Abdul Salam, Abzal Chowdury, Arun Roy, Rafiqul Bari Chowdhury who he recounted would pick up his phone call at 3AM if he needed help and Abdus Samad who gave him precious advice on shooting in black and white.
He also played lead roles in the films: Jalader Darbar, Dabi (1978), Alo Chhaya and Cholo Ghor Badhi.
He won the Bangladesh National Film award for Best Cinematography a record ten times for the films Obhijan (1984), Sohojatri (1987), Poka Makorer Ghor Bosoti (1996), Srabon Megher Din (1999), Dui Duari (2000), Hajar Bachhor Dhore (2005), Amar Ache Jol (2008), Ghetuputra Komola (2012) and Padma Patar Jol (2015).
In a condolence message she prayed for the eternal peace of his departed soul and conveyed profound sympathy to the bereaved family.