Photographers capture and present Pakistan's perception via 14 pictures

Initiated by Max Mueller Bhavan in an attempt to showcase contemporary pictures from the South Asian region, fourteen visual artists have come forward to contribute with pictures of their own, in order to highlight Pakistan’s perception. The total number of pictures selected to form this part of the series took one whole year.

This was an arduous task which was started by a survey trip to Pakistan by certain members of the team.

“The recce was done in cities like Karachi and Lahore in May last year. We formed an advisory team in Pakistan that helped us fight the stereotypical tropes that we might fall into, as outsiders, and also contextualise the works. We launched the third edition with a show in Karachi in January 2015. It also travelled to New Delhi in March,” says Rahaab Allana, who was also part of the team that went on the recce to Pakistan.

 The pictures are not restricted to landscapes alone, oh no. For instance, the picture of Asef Ali demonstrates the plight of the Hazara community in Pakistan. The scenic beauty of Swat Valley  has also been captured by Edwin Koo. The harsh and rough street life in Pakistan is also reflected by the picture of photographer Marylise Vigneau.

A very old apparatus has been used to shoot the pictures by Lensman Hutcheson. “Some artists have also used digital manipulations and collages to narrate their ideas. For instance, Amber Hammad’s work, Glocal, reinterprets famous western paintings in the Pakistani context. On the other hand, Sana Khan, a Pakistani artist based in London, creates fantasy landscapes through digital manipulations of images she has shot,” said Tanvi Mishra.