Wendy Marijnissen: A Year In Pakistan

Based in Antwerp, Wendy Marijnissen is a freelance documentary photographer from Belgium, who has a career in looking for, and reporting on, stories with a social context. She completed a long term reportage in Israel and Palestine, using music to show a different part of daily life in this stressful and violent region. She's currently working on a new project about childbirth and maternal mortality in Pakistan, of which some of her compelling photographs can be seen in the above movie.

Another of Wendy's compelling photo essays is on the dai. A dai (or dayah in Arabic) is a traditional midwife or birth attendant in the Middle East, and Pakistan. Midwifery skills are usually passed on from generation to generation and most practitioners have had no formal training.

The unhygienic conditions in which the dai work, their lack of education and the delayed referral to hospitals in case of complications are the major cause for the high maternal mortality rate in Pakistan.

Akhtar Soomro: Pakistan

Photo © Akhtar Soomro/Reuters-All Rights Reserved

Full Focus, Reuters photo blog, seems to be regaining its footing amongst the remaining other large image photo blogs, and has recently featured the work of Pakistani photojournalist Akhtar Soomro.

Born in the Lyari neighborhood of Karachi, Pakistan, Akhtar graduated from the Government College of Science and Technology with a degree in engineering but photography beckoned, and he started working for a studio covering fashion, industrial and interior design, and subsequently for an advertising agency.

He has since shot assignments for local and international newspapers, magazines and stock agencies around the world. In 2009, he was part of a New York Times' team that won a Pulitzer for its reporting from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Most of Akhtar's impressive photographs in the Reuters feature are of refugees of the floods, and of displaced people from the Swat Valley...but it's the one above that caught my eye. Its caption informs us that a flood victim baby sleeps in a hammock as a man reads the Koran during Eid-al-Fitr celebrations while taking refuge in a relief camp for flood victims in Sukkur in Pakistan's Sindh province on September 11, 2010.

Reuters: Best of the Year Photojournalism

Photo © Adrees Latif/Reuters

It seems that we're at the time of year when many of the news magazines, and large photo-blogs will soon be featuring their "best of the year" photographs. The first of the bunch is Reuters which is showcasing some 55 photographs.

Reuters photographers produce over half a million images every year. Some pictures define an event, others capture a moment revealing an aspect of the human condition. What's really neat this time is that each photographer describes the event which he/she photographed along with technical details.

My favorite photograph is the one above by Adrees Latif made during relief supplies being delivered to flooded villages in the Muzaffargarh district of Punjab in Pakistan. It's one of these photographs that tells is all...the struggle for survival, the physicality of despair...

By the way, Adrees tells us that the elderly man with a white scarf around his neck, managed to hang on to the hovering helicopter and was pulled to safety.

MediaStorm For CFR: Pakistan

Here's Crisis Guide: Pakistan (click on image), a magisterial multimedia production featured by The Council of Foreign Relations and produced by MediaStorm.

As we all know, Pakistan is critical, if not the most critical country, to the national interests of the United States, and yet it's misunderstood and viewed through a prism of apprehension and, from some quarters, of distrust.

The concern over its stability with the current escalation of drone attacks on its tribal areas, the horrific human toll following the recent floods and its geographical and ideological positioning underscore its importance. The New York Times reported last night that international lenders estimate that the floods in Pakistan caused $9.5 billion in damage to its infrastructure, agriculture and other sectors.

According to MediaStorm's web page on the project, it was challenged to create an immersive website, which allowed the user to focus on the complex history of Pakistan and the issues facing the country.

One of the CFR interviewees makes the point that Pakistanis fault the United States' support of Afghan insurgents to battle the Soviet in the 1980s, who fled to neighboring Pakistan when the US invaded Afghanistan in retaliation for the 9.11.2001 Al Qaeda attacks.

I found this is a production that cannot be assimilated, nor reflected on, in a single sitting...it's best viewed over time...bookmark it....it's worth keeping it and returning to it every now and then. Having said that, no production (whether immersive or not) can really explain the complex intricacies that are at play in Pakistan. It's facile for pundits (whatever their political and ideological agendas) to postulate their views...but these will still fall short of reality.

NYT: Pakistan Floods By Tyler Hicks

Photo © Tyler Hicks/NY Times-All Rights Reserved
The catastrophic flooding of the Indus is considered as Pakistan's worst natural calamity, which has ruined almost every infrastructural aspect that connects the country together — roads, bridges, schools, health clinics, electricity and communications. The destruction is also estimated to set Pakistan back decades, will weaken its feeble civilian administration and add to the burdens on its military.

The New York Times has recently featured Tyler Hicks' compelling photographs of the disaster in Pakistan's Floods, as the one above of two young girls quenching their thirst at a water pump in Sukkur. It's said that 20 million people have been affected by the floods; a number of people equal to the population of New York State.

According to the New York Times, a joint study from Ball State University and the University of Tennessee, puts the total cost of the flood damage at $7.1 billion. That is nearly a fifth of Pakistan’s budget.

I sense an apathy amongst the Western and Islamic nations to assist Pakistan in its difficulties. Is it because of the widespread perception (or knowledge) that the Zardari's government is riddled with corruption and cronyism, and thus may divert some of the aid? Or is it Islamophobia? Or is simple donor fatigue after Haiti? I tend to think it's all of the above and perhaps more.

And while I'm on the subject, is it only me who now increasingly relies on foreign cable news like China Network Television (CNTV) and RT (the Russian 24/7 English-language TV) for in-depth international news??? The added bonus of course is that these stations have no interest in Glenn Beck and the repellent clowns of his ilk as does CNN, MSNBC, et al.

NPR: Ed Kashi On Pakistan

Photo © Ed Kashi/National Geographic-All Rights Reserved
Apart from joining the agency VII, Ed Kashi was also featured on NPR's The Picture Show in a piece titled On Photographing Pakistan. He also has more of his photographs on the National Geographic blog.

Ed Kashi's objectives were to show how the people of Punjab live, and how millions of Pakistanis just try to live their lives despite the threat of religious fundamentalism, especially as it's also home to the peaceful sect of Sufism.

I had the pleasure of meeting a number of young Pakistani women photographers at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul just last week or so, and I was amazed at how they just lived their lives to the fullest, worked and crafting their impressive body of work seemingly unperturbed by the events that get reported in our mainstream media.

The above photograph was made at the mosque of Badshahi in Lahore, which is the second largest mosque in South Asia and the fifth largest in the world. The way Ed Kashi photographed the scene by slightly tilting the camera seems to be giving motion to the barefooted man and his cane. Nicely thought out and it gives a different perspective to the mosque which must've been photographed countless times.

NPR: The Grand Trunk Road

The Grand Trunk Road played an important role in India's history at every step of its way. Some 3500 years ago, with the Aryan invasion of the subcontinent, it served as a corridor starting at the Khyber Pass winding eastward between the Himalayas and the Thar Desert onto the Gangetic plain. Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism spread through it, and Muslim proselytizers traveled on it. Since 1947, Pakistan controls the 300-mile segment between Peshawar and Lahore, while the remaining 1,250 miles link six Indian states, making it lifeline of northern India.

Nowadays, the road used by Alexander the Great, Ibn Battutah, Mughals invaders and other conquerors and the just curious, is ruled by truck drivers roaring through countless tiny villages.

NPR features a hybrid multimedia project in which its journalists travel the route and tell the stories of young people living there, who make up the majority of the populations in India and Pakistan.

Zackary Canepari: The Heart of Punjab

©Zackary Canepari/The New York Times
The New York Times featured the work of photographer Zackary Canepari in a slideshow titled The Heart of Punjab. His above photograph is of young students at a seminary school in Dera Ghazi Khan, a gateway both to Taliban-controlled areas and the heart of Punjab.

One of the key captions in the slideshow comes from the accompanying article:

"The Taliban in south and west Punjab exploit many of the same weaknesses that have allowed them to expand in other areas: an absent or intimidated police force; a lack of attention from national and provincial leaders; a population steadily cowed by threats, or won over by hard-line mullahs who usurp authority by playing on government neglect and poverty."

The accompanying article is by Sabrina Tavernise, Richard A. Oppel Jr.and Eric Schmitt.

In the same vein, PBS featured Children of the Taliban on its FRONTLINE/WORLD program on April 14, 2009.

More photography from Zackary Canepari on TTP (LINK)

Matthieu Paley: Lal Shabaz Qalander Festival

Here's a multimedia feature by Matthieu Paley titled Pakistan's Love Parade. I initially thought it dealt with a Pakistani gay parade of some sort, but it turned out to be a remarkable (and lengthy, at almost 12 minutes) reportage on the annual festival of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar when, as writes Matthieu:

"For three days and nights, over one million Sufi pilgrims, devotees and onlookers join an infectious chaos of swirling and dancing; a firework of emotions and sensations; non-stop rhythmic drumbeats echoing through a heady hashish haze."

What an incredible way to describe it! I certainly wouldn't need the hashish to be exhilarated by the sound, sights and smells!

A bit of background: Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar (1177-1274) was a Sufi saint, philosopher, and a poet, born in Afghanistan and who settled in Sindh (Pakistan). He preached religious tolerance among Muslims and Hindus, and is buried in the dusty desert town of Sehwan Sharif, where thousands of pilgrims visit his shrine every year. Hindus and Muslims alike express their devotion through trance dances and devotion for Lal Shabaz Qalander, who is considered as one of Sufism’s most venerated saint, whose message of love and tolerance some 800 years ago still powerfully resonate with his followers.

Matthieu Paley is an Asia-based (living in Hong Kong) photographer specializing in editorial and documentary photography. His work appeared in Geo, National Geographic, Newsweek, Time, Outside, Discovery and various others.

The Big Picture: Scenes From Pakistan

Photo © AP/Emilio Morenatti-All Rights Reserved
The Boston Globe's The Big Picture is consistent in bringing remarkable photographs from various sources and covering interesting current events. It recently featured Scenes From Pakistan following the country's announcement that it would accept Islamic Sharia Law to be implemented in its Swat Valley region, as part of a truce with local Taliban leaders. In this particular feature, it acknowledges the artistry of AP photographer Emilio Morenatti. Emilio was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year by Missouri School of Journalism for its Pictures of the Year International competition.

The above photograph is of a Sh'ia Muslim worshiper receiving medical care in a clinic, after flagellating himself with knives in a procession in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

While in Kochi a few days ago, I met a young shopkeeper who had participated in a Ashura procession in Bangalore. He showed me a short video clip recorded on his cell phone of his bleeding profusely from the head, and he solemnly assured me that his wounds healed miraculously within two hours.

Fairy Meadows - Nanga Parbat, Pakistan

Fairy Meadows is a meadow on the north side of Nanga Parbat (9th highest in the World and 2nd highest in Pakistan, a few kilometers south of the Karakoram Highway and the Indus River in the Diamer district of Northern Areas, Pakistan. It is the best place to view the majestic beauty of Nanga Parbat.


Nanga Parbat is a Persian word, which means Naked Mountain, the local People call Diamer (Monarch of the God). It also knows Killer Mountain among the mountaineers as more 40 climbers have lost their lives trying to conquer it during expeditions.


The meadows are lush green alpine pastures situated in the middle of a pine forest at an altitude of 3,306 m. The meadows have been a thrilling destination for polo lovers, spending couple of days here, having a touch of real adventure.


Fairy Meadows has been a source of enchantment since long for back packers, climbers, wildlife researchers, photographers, painters & geologists, besides nature lovers. The pine forests skirting Fairy Meadows are perhaps one of the virgin forests in the north of Pakistan, and are home to a number of species of birds and wildlife. The site overlooks the Raikot Glacier and provides a majestic view of the North Face of Nanga Parbat, commonly known as the Raikot Face.


The area in front of Fairy Meadows Cottages is known as Pari Mahal (Fairy Palace), named by the famous Japanese photographer, Fujita Heroki. The Fairy Meadows Cottages are at a distance of eight minutes hike from main village and other tourist resorts with its breathtaking natural view of great Nanga Parbat.



How To Get There

Fairy Meadows can be easily approached from the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operates two flights to Gilgit daily, which is the main city of Northern Areas of Pakistan. Further via silk route (KKH) up to Raikot Bridge, 76 km from Gilgit & further 1 ½ jeep able journey.


A road journey from Islamabad on Karakoram Highway (KKH) takes 11 hours to Chillas. From here, Raikot bridge on silk route is 61 km away. Another scenic approach by road from Rawalpindi is through the Kaghan Valley. Jeep able road passes through the Kaghan Valley via the Babusar Pass (4173 m) through Chillas, reaching the Raikot Bridge. Jeeps are available at Raikot Bridge round the clock, carrying 6 passengers on one vehicle. A small café in Jail village offers refreshments & lunch.via

Other pictures of Fairy Meadows in Nanga Parbat.

Video of Fairy Meadows in Nanga Parbat.

New York Times: Talibanistan

Photograph Lynsey Addario-Courtesy NY Times
It's been a long while since I've seen an intelligent and interesting article published in the New York Times' Sunday magazine, but Talibanistan (Right At The Edge) by Dexter Filkins (accompanied by the black & white photographs of Lynsey Addario) in this week's magazine is really a chilling read. Naturally, I would've liked to see more of Addario's intense photographs (perhaps also in larger format), but this article competes with the best of the British or French photo journalistic magazines.

It's quite a lengthy article, which goes into details of the situation in Pakistan and its borders with Afghanistan, and sheds light on the double-play by Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies that are simultaneously helping the Taliban, and taking money and aid from the United States. In other words, we're being played for suckers.

In summary, the reasons for Pakistan's double-play are: (i) it sees Afghanistan as an area of competition against India, its main rival-adversary and sees the Taliban as a counterweight to Indian influence, (ii) the growing popular hatred of the United States, and (iii) the Pakistani army is really incapable (and unwilling) to fight an insurgency in the tribal areas. Why should Pakistan extinguish the Taliban factions in their northern provinces if their very strengthening presence keep United States money flowing in the country's coffers?

Now what I'd like to see is a similarly candid article on the situation in Iraq, where we're paying millions of dollars on a monthly basis to the Sunni tribes so they don't kill our troops. Shining a light on the pervading corruption in Iraq would also be welcome. Next week...Sunday Times Magazine?

Kate Orne: Pakistan Brothels

Photograph © Kate Orne-All Rights Reserved
To highlight the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop starting in Mexico City this coming Monday, I will focus this week's The Travel Photographer blog posts on various photojournalists and their work. This is the second in the series.

Kate Orne is a New York-based photographer who worked amongst the neediest people in Afghanistan and Pakistan over the past seven years. Her mission was to use her craft to fight against indentured slavery and to support the wellbeing of women, children and animals. She worked on several essays on indentured laborers in South East Asia, on victims of domestic abuse, on Kabul orphanages where children lack basic facilities, maternity wards without basic care and imprisoned women.

Her website has a number of galleries, documenting the brothels in Pakistan, the maternity hospital and orphanage in Kabul, refugee camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the red light district in Mumbai.

I thought her work on the brothels in Pakistan as her most powerful and thought-provoking, as it highlights the paradox that exists between the sex industry and Muslim fundamentalism in this part of the world.