On a question recently put across on the board by Pakistan Blog Awards team to all of us bloggers, 'What would every bloggers message be for Pakistan, this 25th of December, our Founding Father's birthday?', I put up this photograph, shot by me on 25th Dec, 2006, by my good Nikon and with due permission from a good, old friend in Pakistan Army. Here is what I wrote after uploading this photograph:
Via Flickr:
During the celebrations of the Birthday anniversary of Leader and Founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, common men were asked to stand outside the main gate while the VIP's (Read: Dacoits and Politicians) prayed and socialized over the dead body of their leader.
I am always ashamed by the workings of this country and its politicians when I see this photograph. This country was not made for looters and politicians and army junta. It was made for common Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and for Parsis and for those who would like to live their life according to their own wishes. Unfortunately for the man who created it and for all of us, we now find ourselves among the angry mullahs and the duck-headed leaders.
- You got the point.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Published: Express Tribune Mag Nov 27- Dec 3, 2011
Article by Adil Mulki
Photographs by Ameer Hamza
As so happens with so many Pakistan-based publications, the editors really don't consider publishing the name of the photographer(s). And that is a sad reality and reflects the general thinking among the editors here: Photographs are not as important as a write-up. They are wrong. And everyone else is wrong who considers photographs as secondary. You just need to pick any issue of National Geographic.
You may read the wonderfully penned article here:
'Outside, the desert sun beats down on the baked and barren dunes, but inside the customised SUV, it’s another world. The AC is on full blast and the tinted windows filter the unforgiving rays of the sun into diffused light. Plush seats provide a level of comfort one would find impossible to imagine in such a harsh environment. Beep…beep…beep. The silence is broken by the sound of the scanner; the vehicle comes to a sudden halt, sending the soft desert sands cascading down the dune that it is now precariously perched atop.'
More...http://tribune.com.pk/story/296325/inglourious-bustards/#comment-437326
Photographs by Ameer Hamza
As so happens with so many Pakistan-based publications, the editors really don't consider publishing the name of the photographer(s). And that is a sad reality and reflects the general thinking among the editors here: Photographs are not as important as a write-up. They are wrong. And everyone else is wrong who considers photographs as secondary. You just need to pick any issue of National Geographic.
You may read the wonderfully penned article here:
'Outside, the desert sun beats down on the baked and barren dunes, but inside the customised SUV, it’s another world. The AC is on full blast and the tinted windows filter the unforgiving rays of the sun into diffused light. Plush seats provide a level of comfort one would find impossible to imagine in such a harsh environment. Beep…beep…beep. The silence is broken by the sound of the scanner; the vehicle comes to a sudden halt, sending the soft desert sands cascading down the dune that it is now precariously perched atop.'
More...http://tribune.com.pk/story/296325/inglourious-bustards/#comment-437326
Saturday, November 26, 2011
My home before my wedding
Date: 2nd February, 2009.
Location: My home, Karachi.
Via Flickr:
More work next day: My father (foreground, bending) checks out something as my brother, Ovais, looks for space amidst hoards of items stacked onto one another. Marriage is one big game in Pakistan, which you have to play. And everyone is required to help you out. You can just imagine the predicament of my parents and my siblings in re-arranging all the stuff, just in time for my wedding on 20th March, 2009. This photograph is a reminder of all that transpired.
Location: My home, Karachi.
Via Flickr:
More work next day: My father (foreground, bending) checks out something as my brother, Ovais, looks for space amidst hoards of items stacked onto one another. Marriage is one big game in Pakistan, which you have to play. And everyone is required to help you out. You can just imagine the predicament of my parents and my siblings in re-arranging all the stuff, just in time for my wedding on 20th March, 2009. This photograph is a reminder of all that transpired.
My home before my wedding
Date: 1st February, 2009.
Location: My home, Karachi.
Via Flickr:
My wedding took place on 20th March, 2009. But before that lot of shifting was done to create space for my incoming stuff, what you call jahez furniture (dowry), and assortment of items. This is my brother, Ovais Adhia, sleeping after spending a day full of work, both at office and at home.
Location: My home, Karachi.
Via Flickr:
My wedding took place on 20th March, 2009. But before that lot of shifting was done to create space for my incoming stuff, what you call jahez furniture (dowry), and assortment of items. This is my brother, Ovais Adhia, sleeping after spending a day full of work, both at office and at home.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Daily Life: Washing at Sufi Shrine, Karachi
Date: 3rd June, 2007.
This was a good day for photography. Some great shots came through. I particularly like this one. It is full of a typical life around this Shrine of Pir Haji Syed Sakhi Sultan (RA). The hot sulphur spring water, from whose water these two men are bathing, is known to cure skin ailments. And there could be some truth in this: We know from various scientific studies that sulphur waters from spring may cure certain diseases; it also helps to make you fresh as an orange. I tried that too and was happy with the results. But not this time. I think these two men were initially embarrassed that a photographer had popped from nowhere, clicking away continuously.
I also like the worn down structure to the left of the frame, the keekar trees, the un-plastered wall, and one of the men pulling down his shalwar; other one was probably waiting for me to move out before he could remove his shalwar. I moved away. Thanks to me!
This was a good day for photography. Some great shots came through. I particularly like this one. It is full of a typical life around this Shrine of Pir Haji Syed Sakhi Sultan (RA). The hot sulphur spring water, from whose water these two men are bathing, is known to cure skin ailments. And there could be some truth in this: We know from various scientific studies that sulphur waters from spring may cure certain diseases; it also helps to make you fresh as an orange. I tried that too and was happy with the results. But not this time. I think these two men were initially embarrassed that a photographer had popped from nowhere, clicking away continuously.
I also like the worn down structure to the left of the frame, the keekar trees, the un-plastered wall, and one of the men pulling down his shalwar; other one was probably waiting for me to move out before he could remove his shalwar. I moved away. Thanks to me!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Marsh crocs at Hot sulphur springs, Karachi
Via Flickr:
Danger lurks around every corner of the frame: Nile delta marsh crocodiles pop their heads out of the hot sulphur spring found at the Shrine of Sufi Saint, Hazrat Pir Haji Sakhi Sultan (RA). This surely is one of the most fascinating places in the country and surely the oldest Sufi Shrine in Karachi.
For detailed reading of this interesting subject, you must read the following article / blog:
http://pakistaniat.com/2009/06/18/the-mysteries-of-manghopir-shrine-crocodiles-and-sulphur-springs-part-1/
Danger lurks around every corner of the frame: Nile delta marsh crocodiles pop their heads out of the hot sulphur spring found at the Shrine of Sufi Saint, Hazrat Pir Haji Sakhi Sultan (RA). This surely is one of the most fascinating places in the country and surely the oldest Sufi Shrine in Karachi.
For detailed reading of this interesting subject, you must read the following article / blog:
http://pakistaniat.com/2009/06/18/the-mysteries-of-manghopir-shrine-crocodiles-and-sulphur-springs-part-1/
Feeding marsh crocodiles at Sufi Shrine, Karachi
Date: 3rd June, 2007.
This is Sheedi, or black man, standing among the most dangerous crocodiles on Earth: Marsh crocodiles from River Nile. No one knows how they ended up here, thousands of miles from their original place, in the barren of Karachi at a Sufi Shrine near Karachi (now Manghopir, as this place is called, is part of Karachi due to horizontal expansion of the city).
The legend is that these crocodiles are actually lice of the Saint, who threw them into this spring. And they became crocodiles!
This is Sheedi, or black man, standing among the most dangerous crocodiles on Earth: Marsh crocodiles from River Nile. No one knows how they ended up here, thousands of miles from their original place, in the barren of Karachi at a Sufi Shrine near Karachi (now Manghopir, as this place is called, is part of Karachi due to horizontal expansion of the city).
The legend is that these crocodiles are actually lice of the Saint, who threw them into this spring. And they became crocodiles!
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