Via Flickr:
Making chai (tea) for customers at his highway dhaba, Sann.
Chai: Rs.20 / cup
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Dangerous work, Karachi
Via Flickr:
A "pranch" fixer balances himself on a construction site at 12th floor without any safety concerns whatsover. The construction industry in Pakistan is lax when it comes to providing proper facilities to labours, causing many deaths annually. As these sites are never checked by authorities concerned, builders and contractors keep no measures in place.
A "pranch" fixer balances himself on a construction site at 12th floor without any safety concerns whatsover. The construction industry in Pakistan is lax when it comes to providing proper facilities to labours, causing many deaths annually. As these sites are never checked by authorities concerned, builders and contractors keep no measures in place.
Bilal colony, Korangi
Via Flickr:
I visited Bilal Colony today (16th Dec 2012) to see for myself the living conditions there. As expected, much of the area cannot be photographed because Pashtuns traditionally shy away from photographers for fear that their women may be photographed.
Another reason is the illegal drugs and liqor business which is rampant in these areas. Off course everything happens under the watchful eyes of Police. However, recently an operation was conducted by Police and agencies and many drug peddlers and target killers were caught red handed.
I visited Bilal Colony today (16th Dec 2012) to see for myself the living conditions there. As expected, much of the area cannot be photographed because Pashtuns traditionally shy away from photographers for fear that their women may be photographed.
Another reason is the illegal drugs and liqor business which is rampant in these areas. Off course everything happens under the watchful eyes of Police. However, recently an operation was conducted by Police and agencies and many drug peddlers and target killers were caught red handed.
Friday, November 23, 2012
PUBLISHED: Interview in Newsline Nov. 2012
PUBLISHED by one of the leading political / social monthly magazine in the country. This is a special issue dedicated to "Politics of Religion". Read it here:
Ameer Hamza has traveled all over Pakistan, capturing different sides of the country with his camera. Newsline spoke to the talented photographer to find out how he got started and we have culled some images from his portfolio that reflect the rich and varied expressions of faith in Pakistan.
How did you become interested in photography?
I was born in Karachi, but my family used to travel a lot. As a child my father would take us to various exotic locations across Pakistan, places where there were no roads and no people around.
Initially, it was difficult for me to get a hold of my father’s camera. He was very anxious about it being manhandled and I think I always did. I was never really interested in family portraits. Instead, I wanted to photograph street children or landscapes. Those were the days of Kodak 100 and 200, those yellow-coated films, and my father had to keep buying me new Kodak rolls. In 2004, he got me my first camera. That was Olympus C-120, a 2-MP camera, and I got hooked instantly. There was no concern whatsoever about the cost of film and I was free to shoot 1,000 photographs in a day. By then I had learned that a typical National Geographic photographer shoots around 40,000 photographs for a single six-month assignment.
There’s some sort of urgency within me which compels me to move around, to observe, to shoot. Photography is not my main profession, although many people think it is. I want to show Pakistan as it is. I want to show its culture and its people and what kind of religious inclinations they have. I feel sick whenever I hear of someone blowing up a Sufi shrine or attacking a church or a Hindu temple. The older the place of worship, the more disgusted I get. I love historical buildings and their connections with our present.
You are a photographer for Getty Images. How did that come about?
I have been on Flickr since 2006, but before that I worked on an assignment for CNN’s travel magazine team in which I was assigned to photograph the magnificent structures at the Chaukandi tombs near Karachi. That was my first major interaction with an international organisation.
In 2011, I got a message in my mail that Getty wanted to buy some of my work and I agreed to their terms. Then, in mid-2011, I once again got a message from them. They were looking for someone who knew Pakistan inside out, in terms of travel destinations, food, etc., and they wanted to hire a freelancer. Many other Pakistani photographers also applied, but in the end I was selected.
Also, earlier three of my photographs were published by National Geographic on their website and I have won three Guardian photography awards.
How often do you travel around Pakistan?
The short answer is whenever I have the budget to do so. It’s been a long time since I travelled around Pakistan with my family. Since getting my first camera from my abbu in 2004, I have been travelling with friends. Last year I went trekking on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Wakhan region). In 2010, I was assigned to shoot the western parts of Balochistan by a private company. Before I went on that assignment, I told my employer that insurgents were capturing and beheading people in the province. So they provided me with a Dell laptop, a Toyota Vigo double cabin car, a Land Cruiser and eight guards. They also gave me a huge budget and I had 21 days to shoot. Frankly, I never felt any insurgent would behead me and I really enjoyed that assignment.
Before that, in 2008, just before getting engaged, I took my friends and drove right to the border of India in the Thar desert, beyond the Nagar temple. No cameras were allowed there so I have no photographic record of that place. I have visited all of Pakistan’s borders: India (2008), Afghanistan (2002 & 2010), Iran (2010) and China (2003).
Ameer Hamza's Photo gallery
Ameer Hamza has traveled all over Pakistan, capturing different sides of the country with his camera. Newsline spoke to the talented photographer to find out how he got started and we have culled some images from his portfolio that reflect the rich and varied expressions of faith in Pakistan.
How did you become interested in photography?
I was born in Karachi, but my family used to travel a lot. As a child my father would take us to various exotic locations across Pakistan, places where there were no roads and no people around.
Initially, it was difficult for me to get a hold of my father’s camera. He was very anxious about it being manhandled and I think I always did. I was never really interested in family portraits. Instead, I wanted to photograph street children or landscapes. Those were the days of Kodak 100 and 200, those yellow-coated films, and my father had to keep buying me new Kodak rolls. In 2004, he got me my first camera. That was Olympus C-120, a 2-MP camera, and I got hooked instantly. There was no concern whatsoever about the cost of film and I was free to shoot 1,000 photographs in a day. By then I had learned that a typical National Geographic photographer shoots around 40,000 photographs for a single six-month assignment.
There’s some sort of urgency within me which compels me to move around, to observe, to shoot. Photography is not my main profession, although many people think it is. I want to show Pakistan as it is. I want to show its culture and its people and what kind of religious inclinations they have. I feel sick whenever I hear of someone blowing up a Sufi shrine or attacking a church or a Hindu temple. The older the place of worship, the more disgusted I get. I love historical buildings and their connections with our present.
You are a photographer for Getty Images. How did that come about?
I have been on Flickr since 2006, but before that I worked on an assignment for CNN’s travel magazine team in which I was assigned to photograph the magnificent structures at the Chaukandi tombs near Karachi. That was my first major interaction with an international organisation.
In 2011, I got a message in my mail that Getty wanted to buy some of my work and I agreed to their terms. Then, in mid-2011, I once again got a message from them. They were looking for someone who knew Pakistan inside out, in terms of travel destinations, food, etc., and they wanted to hire a freelancer. Many other Pakistani photographers also applied, but in the end I was selected.
Also, earlier three of my photographs were published by National Geographic on their website and I have won three Guardian photography awards.
How often do you travel around Pakistan?
The short answer is whenever I have the budget to do so. It’s been a long time since I travelled around Pakistan with my family. Since getting my first camera from my abbu in 2004, I have been travelling with friends. Last year I went trekking on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border (Wakhan region). In 2010, I was assigned to shoot the western parts of Balochistan by a private company. Before I went on that assignment, I told my employer that insurgents were capturing and beheading people in the province. So they provided me with a Dell laptop, a Toyota Vigo double cabin car, a Land Cruiser and eight guards. They also gave me a huge budget and I had 21 days to shoot. Frankly, I never felt any insurgent would behead me and I really enjoyed that assignment.
Before that, in 2008, just before getting engaged, I took my friends and drove right to the border of India in the Thar desert, beyond the Nagar temple. No cameras were allowed there so I have no photographic record of that place. I have visited all of Pakistan’s borders: India (2008), Afghanistan (2002 & 2010), Iran (2010) and China (2003).
Ameer Hamza's Photo gallery
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Eid Mehndi, Karachi
Eid Mubarak to all Muslims.
Mehndi patterns displayed by a Pakistani girl in Karachi, Pakistan.
Mehndi patterns displayed by a Pakistani girl in Karachi, Pakistan.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Tomb of Phyllis Louise Lawrence, Gora Qabristan, Karachi
The white-domed tomb of Phyllis Louise Lawrence, nee Napier, the first wife of Sir Henry Staveley Lawrence (Collector of Karachi). The Lawrence couple were married in 1899 and had three children before Phyllis was killed in a carriage accident in Karachi on 30 June 1912. Karachi, Sind, British India.
I was able to shoot this photograph early morning of 24th Dec, 2006, when I visited the place with my mother. It saddens me that the place around the tomb is now all vandalized and captured by land mafia. I was told by a Christian at the cemetery that this area was taken up by Muslim refugees from India after partition. Somehow this tomb survived.
There's an interesting story about this woman in the book written on Karachi (a compilation) by Asif Farukki.
I was able to shoot this photograph early morning of 24th Dec, 2006, when I visited the place with my mother. It saddens me that the place around the tomb is now all vandalized and captured by land mafia. I was told by a Christian at the cemetery that this area was taken up by Muslim refugees from India after partition. Somehow this tomb survived.
There's an interesting story about this woman in the book written on Karachi (a compilation) by Asif Farukki.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Anyone loves USA?
Via Flickr:
Anti-US and Anti-Israel protests across much of Muslim world including Pakistan prompted me to get my collection of stamps out and hunt for USA stamps. Here are some of them. After so many years, they still look colourful and bring out memories etched somewhere back on my mind.
I love these stamps but do I love USA?
Shot with Tamron 90mm 2.8 lens.
Anti-US and Anti-Israel protests across much of Muslim world including Pakistan prompted me to get my collection of stamps out and hunt for USA stamps. Here are some of them. After so many years, they still look colourful and bring out memories etched somewhere back on my mind.
I love these stamps but do I love USA?
Shot with Tamron 90mm 2.8 lens.
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