1. What is your earliest memory of how or what attracted you to photography?
I remember seeing an advertisement in the National Geographic magazine of a camera, which stayed in my mind. Then in 1985, when I came back to Pakistan from the States after completing my education, I saw an exhibition of photographs by a photo club at the Karachi Art Council, which got me interested in becoming a member of this association. I was already shooting the city in my own way after my return, and this group of like-minded people attracted me to join the club.
2. Did you study photography formally in a college or university?
I didn’t study photography formally. You could say I am self-taught. I used to read photo magazines and books to learn about the medium. The concept of lens and image and focal length were all totally new to me. I didn’t know the physics behind the image. I just shot randomly on the program mode and then on the auto mode for a long time in bright light to just see what had come on film. It was magic to see all the things that could take shape within a rectangular space – a sort of conformity – which I started relating to and liking, as well.
3. If you were to design a photo program for young Pakistani photographers, what would it look like?
For the young, I propose workshops of various kinds whose goal would be to get rid of any apprehensions or restrictions they have as far as image making is concerned. This generation thinks a lot. Their instincts haven’t grown enough.
4. Who or what has inspired you to pursue photography and/or continues to do so?
I saw Cartier-Bresson’s book about India in the late eighties and then Joseph Koudelka’s Exiles in the early nineties. These two have motivated me and Koudelka, especially, still motivates me in my practice.
5. Is there a book, exhibition or body of work that has really impressed you and maybe influenced your work / life?
All good work motivates me however Koudelka’s work in Exiles is where it is at for me.
6. What draws / drew you to the subject matter you are pursuing in your current work?
‘Light’ motivates me. I collect images on a more or less daily basis. I have learnt to educate myself through what I see. I am motivated to work on long-term personal projects. Memory is painful but photography is memory; it is the art of the moment gone by. This saddens me at times. Hence, my attraction to nostalgia and things that are fading away. I shoot my city regularly, and have seen many changes in it from the late eighties until now.
7. Do your projects typically run in parallel, or do you focus on one project at a time?
The projects that I work on run in parallel. In order to create a certain tension-free feeling with elasticity, I hop around. In that way my energy is maintained and refreshed. I worked on Pestonjee, a project on the Parsis, while I was working on a very personal project that involved documenting my father’s illness and alongside these I also worked on Phase 8, a project about my family – so all these projects were sort of interrelated. In between projects, I read and see a lot of photo books, as I am an avid book collector.
8. Please share with us how and why you got interested in photographing the Parsi community.
It was through a photograph of a Parsi temple, which appeared in the newspaper, Dawn. Since I head the photographic archive of the paper through my photo agency White Star Photo, Pestonjee contacted me for a copy of the old temple photograph. I have known him since then. My involvement with documenting rituals of daily life, of the various communities of the city, is an old interest of mine. However, in Pestonjee, I have tried to tell a story of the past that is circumstantially in a Parsi setting.
9. You talk about memory being painful and photography being memory. Please elaborate on this thought.
Memory, for me, is of a time that has passed and never comes back. And remembering it mostly is feeling its loss. Photography is the art of recording memory; we record the fading away of time. A moment that has gone lives only through the medium.
10. Can you tell our readers about your starting White Star, one of the first photo news agencies in Pakistan? Please share a little of its journey.
White Star was formed in early 2007. It is a private limited company and has in its contract to provide photographic and archiving services to the Dawn newspaper. It has a team of photographers on a national level, and also provides a platform for young cutting-edge photographers.
11. How do you measure success or that a body of work is going well?
Initially, I am just a collector of images. Success, for me, comes when I start editing the work into a body or a book form. I rarely show my work to people in its incomplete stage. With time I am learning to be more severe in my editing and eliminating process.
12. Do you ever find yourself creatively ‘stuck?’ Is there something that is particularly helpful to you in overcoming this?
Parallel projects help to keep me fresh in my observations. Eye rest and small distractions are also necessary.
13. How much effort do you put into getting your work shown? Is this important to you? Does showing your work feed your creative process, or does it distract you from it?
I hardly show my work. As I am growing older, I have started showing more of it. My website is not mobile friendly, so I have to get it redesigned. I think I also need a team to push my work in the international sphere. Perhaps my kids will eventually do that through a foundation that I want to set up in the near future.
14. Do you feel that there are adequate opportunities and avenues to share / show your work in your home country, or do you always look for such opportunities abroad?
I have regular shows of my work in my country and, to a lesser extent, abroad as well. Exhibitions, book and portfolio launches of my work have been taking place regularly within my country. My exposure internationally has been very limited.
15. We know that fine art or documentary photography is not always enough to make a living. Some do commercial work, others teach. Are there other photography related areas that you work with in order to supplement your living? Some that you would recommend aspiring photographers to consider?
I have done my share of commercial work and teaching as well. I also head a photographic firm by the name of Whitestar Photo Pvt. Ltd. that provides the young in my country with a lot of opportunities to get photography assignments.
16. Digital technology has changed photography drastically over the last few years. Did you initially embrace the changes or resist them? Do you believe the changes have been good for the medium or not?
I resisted the digital revolution for the longest time, as I was too set in my analog ways for way too long. It was in 2009, during an art residency in the UK, the course required us to produce the image immediately, that I opted to shoot in digital. And then I continued to shoot in both, analog and digital. In fact, I still shoot analog and have, with time, become quite comfortable with the new medium. The digital is quite quick; however, one ends up spending more time on the screen in the editing and color correction process. I am still a babe in the woods in this digital era, and it’s a good thing that I have come to terms with technology now. The downside is that many artists related to the field in the past had to end their careers – they were no longer required, as they could not adjust to the digital medium and shooting in analog (the cost of film and paper) became too prohibitive.
17. Do you think there is a universal language that photography uses? Do you think that Pakistani photographers are finding that they are judged by western criteria and standards?
The language of photography is universal, but the west overlooks this region mainly because of more lucrative markets in Asia.
18. With your years of experience, of the lessons you have learned, what is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were starting out?
No gain without pain.
19. How has it been living through this lockdown period for you, in terms of your practice and producing work?
I have been shooting throughout the lockdown period. Initially at home and then outside in busy areas, as well.
20. How would an interested collector go about buying your work?
The best way would be to get in touch with me directly by writing to me on my eMail. (arifmahmoodphoto@gmail.com)
21. If you didn’t do photography, what other career might you have pursued?
I might have been a collector of the odd.
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Copyright © Arif Mahmood
20 November
