ISLAMABAD: ‘A Lifeline Spread Long’, a photography exhibition by Mobeen Ansari, was presented at the Satrang Gallery on Tuesday. The exhibition opening was followed by an Artist’s Talk and the screening of two documentary films by the artist.

Mr Ansari is a photojournalist, documentary filmmaker and painter. A graduate of the prestigious National College of the Arts, his mission is to promote a positive and often unseen side of Pakistan through his photographs. In 2014, he published a book of photographs of Pakistani icons, ‘Dharkan: the Heartbeat of a Nation’. He has since given two TED talks and has exhibited his works in the United States, Italy, China, Pakistan, India and Iraq.

His first documentary film, ‘Hellhole’, has also been selected for screening at the New Orleans Film Festival 2016. ‘Hellhole’ is the story of a worker in Karachi who cleans gutters. Beautifully done, it relies entirely on visuals with no words.

Asma Rashid Khan, the director of Satrang, said: “Mobeen’s photographs are a visual treat while celebrating the beauty and authenticity of the unsung heroes of Pakistan, in the country’s diverse landscape and culture. He has travelled all over Pakistan and met the people, filmed the places and we thought it was important to create a show that displayed the most far-flung areas of the country.”

She added: “I taught Mobeen in school in the sixth grade, so it has been an interesting journey with him. Even then he was interested in the arts and to see him go through art school and reach this level of his craft is very gratifying.”

Trained as a painter, Mr Ansari’s photography – like his paintings – depicts his subjects in a way similar to that of Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Mr Ansari said: “I became interested in photography during my O Levels and it actually helped that I lost my hearing at a very young age because it allowed me to be very visual and appreciate the most beautiful aspects of the mundane. It also inspired me to travel.”

Explaining his work, he added: “Most of the portraits you see here have been taken in the last five years, off the beaten path, or places where they do not speak the same language as us. But art transcends all barriers and in this case it helped me to transcend the language barrier. I did not need to say anything and I took most of the pictures with my hearing aid off.”

Some of the portraits were taken in Broghil, a small place in the Wah Khan Corridor between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The second documentary screened at the event was also filed in the Wah Khan Corridor against the backdrop of the national anthem.

The photographs are dramatic portraits of ordinary Pakistani people, and each picture is evocative, insightful and unique. Mr Ansari’s talent for capturing the story and essence of his subject in one click is masterful. He uses the contrasts between light and dark to separate the subject from the background and add depth to the portrait.

Mr Ansari’s family traces its lineage back to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and his grandmother was an avid photographer. In a presentation, he showed a photograph she took when she migrated to Karachi in 1947. He said he also has what may be the first selfie of Pakistan; a photograph his grandmother took of herself and her sisters after they landed in Karachi in 1947.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2016