The portrait of the turban-clad man with a single pierced ear seemed to stand out from the rest. It was not just his persona that seemed to pull the visitors but it was the entire composition of the photograph which made one stop in their tracks, and gaze a little longer.

The photographer who captured the portrait, Adeeqa Nazir Lalwany, is one of the students at the Institute of Business Management (IoBM) who displayed their best work in a photography exhibition “People and Spaces: Through the camera” held at the university premises.

The collection ranged from photo essays, architectural shots to travelogues but there was a commonality in all the pieces — an underlying story.

“This man was the caretaker of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s shrine. I wanted to show his lifestyle, his entire demeanor really appealed to me so I decided to capture it,” said Adeeqa.

The students were also taken to brick kiln factories in Hyderabad where they not only photographed families but came to know their stories.

“The visit taught us not only how to take compelling photographs but we learned about life and the heart wrenching stories of the people there,” said Saad.

The photo essays in the exhibition captured a series of rare, personal moments from the lives of unrelated individuals which combined to tell an extraordinary tale.

“At times words cannot do justice to what you can show with a single picture; you can churn up a fancy adjective but at times, it’s just not sufficient,” said Adeeqa.

The students’ work was supervised by travel and documentary photographer, Danial Shah, to whom photography is more than just a ‘profession’.

“The whole point is to become sensitive towards people and issues, and take up photojournalism as a passion. We tend to ignore the true aspects of life in our race to earn money,” said Danial while explaining his motive behind teaching photography.

A major aspect of the art of storytelling is to treat the subject with empathy while capturing precious moments from their life, which Danial aimed to achieve in his class.

“My objective was to teach students to erase any biases in terms of ethnicity, colour, cast or religion while storytelling, and have neutrality in their approach. The technical aspects in photography are important, but what is crucial is to be compassionate.”

Pushing the students to explore places outside the metropolis was meant to inculcate this sentiment.

It took a few attempts to get the apprentices on the right path.

“The very first assignments that I got back from the kids were pictures taken from inside their home. Some captured pictures from inside their car, not wanting to get out and explore.

“The challenge was to get them out of their comfort zone and push limits to get a whole new perspective, and they did. They have come a long way since then.”

The caretaker of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s shrine. — Photo Adeeqa Lalwani

Abdul, an Afghan immigrant boy who earns a living through carrying shoppers' luggage. — Photo by Gulzar Nayani

The chimney of a brick kiln factory. — Photo by Saad Arfin

“There was a time when people used to buy helmets from me, but nowadays they only buy helmets due to the fear of cops rather than the fear of death.” — Photo by Hasan Ahmed Ansari

A young pilgrim at the shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. — Photo by Gulzar Nayani

Brick kiln workers. — Saad Arfin

A labourer creating mud mixture for bricks at the brick kilns in Hyderabad. — Photo by Alee Hassan

Mohammad Shoaib has been selling books for several years but was recently forced to sell one of his bags due to dwindling sales. — Photo by Hasan Ahmed Ansari

Camel owner for customers at sea view. — Photo by Adeeqa Lalwani

Shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. — Photo by Adeeqa Lalwani

Shrine of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai. — Photo by Adeeqa Lalwani

A visitor at the exhibition. — Photo by Yumna Rafi

Names have been changed to protect identity.