ISLAMABAD: Sharjeel Anzar has turned photography into a haunting and poignant medium through which he captures the beauty of nature and intimate moments of everyday life, and also chronicles Pakistan’s history.

An exhibition, titled Pakistan – Land and Life, featuring works of civil servant-turned-photographer Sharjeel Anzar was inaugurated by renowned feminist poet Kishwar Naheed and Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) Director General Jamal Shah at the National Art Gallery on Monday.

The giant exhibited photographs are captivating and evocative in their depiction of the photographer’s passion and sensibility as well as the country’s landscape, diversity, heritage and rural life, from the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan to the plains of Punjab,

the Tharparkar desert in Sindh and shores of Gwadar in Balochistan.

The photographs depict life and sports near Khangah Dogran in Sheikhupura, still without power and modern facilities, bull-racing and tent-pegging in Talagang, cotton-pickers near Multan, a famous tea stall in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar, classical dancers, Baloch tribesmen and Kalash women, and showcase the deep understanding the photographer has of Pakistan’s cultural richness and diversity.

His passion for folklore, traditional sports and pluralistic cultural heritage that is now fading from our national memory resulted in photographs of sites like the Hiran Minar, Rohtas Fort, Gurdwara Punja Sahib and Badshahi Masjid.

“Sharjeel’s photographs are poetic, depicting the real life of Pakistani culture and landscape,” Ms Naheed said, recommending that the Foreign Office display Mr Anzar’s photographs in Pakistani missions abroad to promote the country’s diversity and reality to the world.

“Sharjeel’s photographs are aesthetically very advanced and relevant to the land, its environs, seasons, cultural heritage and the life of its inhabitants.

“The photos are thematically and content-wise very powerful and captivating,” said Mr Shah.

He said the photographs reflect nostalgia associated with traditions and the vanishing cultural heritage.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2018