When a child is born in Pakistan, often families seal his or her fate, if its a boy he is going to be the breadwinner of the family when he grows up so either its business or some fancy job that he is groomed for and if its a girl she is to be a housewife who should sacrifice her dreams for the man she marries that is after she gets herself a degree (after all who wants to marry a girl who doesn't has a degree) which she mostly wouldn't use (we are proud people after all, we won't let our daughters/wives work after marriage.) But it is only a few lucky ones are that bold and courageous enough to rebel and find a life that they want to live. This is a story of a girl who choose to defy all those odds and in her search for whats right for her, she found herself behind a camera with a smile that was brighter than the north star.
Born in the not so glamourous city of RawalPindi (the often neglected twin of Islamabad), Zaib Alvi is one of the very few in Pakistan who get to call themselves as army children. Her father who is a soldier in the pakistan army has his ancestral roots firmly grounded in the city that is both rich in culture and the capital of India, Delhi. Her mother's family on the other hand is from Shimla the hill station which was frequented by the Viceroys of India in the British Era and is still date a tourist attraction for millions who visit and inhabit india for its beauty. Being the first person from her family to enter media, she is quite optimistic about her future and how her family would react to those who follow in her footsteps. Getting where she is today was never part of the plan though, it was a mere coincidence or maybe a stroke of luck whichever you may call it but as a child she always dreamt of herself as a doctor when she grew up, life went by her at a pace that she never actually bothered to question herself or to figure out if she actually wanted what she thought she wanted. It was after she finished her Fsc that she finally decided to give herself the opportunity to evaluate her life and the choices in it. She took a year off and decided to go in search of what should be doing with herself, at first the thought of speaking a foreign language attracted her so she spent six months learning chinese but she couldn't really satisfy the hunger in her and realized that this wasn't what she wanted in life. Confused, lost and unable to figure out what she wanted in life she felt frustrated but then her father who have always known her better then she did came to her with a gift which changed her life forever. In the summer of 2013, her father gifted her a DSLR and the moment her eyes saw it she knew that it was what she was searching for.
Finding the what she wanted to do in her life was just beginning or the easy part, the real troubles started when she realized that she didn't had the required skills to operate it but like someone wise once said When there's a will there's a way, she quickly fired up the internet and soon she had figured out how to get the camera working on auto mode. The next few weeks she spent every waking moment clicking with her camera, learning new tricks whenever she can from the gurus on the internet and then applying them in her shots. A girl who was lost and confused a few weeks ago was now satisfied with what she was doing and had a direction. She got enrolled in BS-Media Sciences at Riphah University. At first it was about survival, her background was in medicine so initially there were a few hiccups but soon she was in the leagues of those at the top. with her determination she faced and overcame many challenges that came her way and excelled through obstacles that at first seemed impossible. She met a lot of people along the way who shared her passion and helped her learn and accomplish things that she could have alone. Under the mentorship of a close friend, she got the courage to unleash her creativity. With that continuous support she was able to overcome rejection (Everyone gets rejected at first), break the morays (Our society has assigned gender roles which restrict what a person can do, try being a male makeup artist for example in Pakistan).
The blazing inferno inside of her keeps her hungry for more all the time this why to her every new day is a new challenge and every new shoot is better then the last. For her present is what matters not what the past had in it which is why when she is low she reminds herself that she might have joined the field a little latter then she wanted but where she is now is what matters. A lot of girls in Pakistan will go through what she went through and this why she is always very vocal about her journey. It wasn't a fairy tale for her and neither will it be for them but its determination and persistence which is what one needs if they are brave enough to chase their dreams. For her the journey began with a sweet sight but soon it turned into a dark nightmare when she had to explain her life choices, then it went even darker when she had to forgo opportunities that would have been life changing because of her gender but then with time and her determination she managed to turn those dark times into brighter ones, staying persistent caused the people around to see that she was right and what she asked for was not so bad, it made them realize that her happiness lies in what she's doing and if they stop her from doing it out of love they would be the main reason for her unhappiness. Don't be fooled into thinking that these were the only troubles she had, the hardest were to get recognition, in the age of internet it is far easier to find people who will try to push you, pull you down or hold you back then those who will give you a chance to express yourself, experiment or make mistakes and this is what made her strong. The repeated rejection gave her the will to be better and the continuous reminders of her being a female and how she shouldn't be doing something kept the fire in her alive to do. So her message to every female out their is plain and simple "You are NOT LESSER then a man, so choose and do what you want too. The world is scared of how you might be better and this is why they tell you that you cant do"
The industry is evolving, a few decades ago photography was limited to just a few genres like wedding, events and calamities but with the advent of cheaper imaging technologies more and more people are joining the stage which is making it harder to get recognized in the above three genres. This will eventually lead to exploration of the field in other genres, landscape photography for example has seen a boost in the past 5 years. As for what makes a good picture, their isn't a set formula sometimes even a random click can stand out and sometimes even the most timed shot can look obscene. But the essence to a good shot lies in what you have in your head, good storytelling is a very important of a picture, the viewer a random image is never powerful but an image that has a story inside of it is what changes the world and even how people view somethings. So try being an artist not a photographer and focus on story telling not on the subject.
Future is a mystery and life has a way of making you do things that it wants you too. So she doesn't really has a plan all she has are hopes of continuing her work in photography plus get into cinematography.
Born in the not so glamourous city of RawalPindi (the often neglected twin of Islamabad), Zaib Alvi is one of the very few in Pakistan who get to call themselves as army children. Her father who is a soldier in the pakistan army has his ancestral roots firmly grounded in the city that is both rich in culture and the capital of India, Delhi. Her mother's family on the other hand is from Shimla the hill station which was frequented by the Viceroys of India in the British Era and is still date a tourist attraction for millions who visit and inhabit india for its beauty. Being the first person from her family to enter media, she is quite optimistic about her future and how her family would react to those who follow in her footsteps. Getting where she is today was never part of the plan though, it was a mere coincidence or maybe a stroke of luck whichever you may call it but as a child she always dreamt of herself as a doctor when she grew up, life went by her at a pace that she never actually bothered to question herself or to figure out if she actually wanted what she thought she wanted. It was after she finished her Fsc that she finally decided to give herself the opportunity to evaluate her life and the choices in it. She took a year off and decided to go in search of what should be doing with herself, at first the thought of speaking a foreign language attracted her so she spent six months learning chinese but she couldn't really satisfy the hunger in her and realized that this wasn't what she wanted in life. Confused, lost and unable to figure out what she wanted in life she felt frustrated but then her father who have always known her better then she did came to her with a gift which changed her life forever. In the summer of 2013, her father gifted her a DSLR and the moment her eyes saw it she knew that it was what she was searching for.
Finding the what she wanted to do in her life was just beginning or the easy part, the real troubles started when she realized that she didn't had the required skills to operate it but like someone wise once said When there's a will there's a way, she quickly fired up the internet and soon she had figured out how to get the camera working on auto mode. The next few weeks she spent every waking moment clicking with her camera, learning new tricks whenever she can from the gurus on the internet and then applying them in her shots. A girl who was lost and confused a few weeks ago was now satisfied with what she was doing and had a direction. She got enrolled in BS-Media Sciences at Riphah University. At first it was about survival, her background was in medicine so initially there were a few hiccups but soon she was in the leagues of those at the top. with her determination she faced and overcame many challenges that came her way and excelled through obstacles that at first seemed impossible. She met a lot of people along the way who shared her passion and helped her learn and accomplish things that she could have alone. Under the mentorship of a close friend, she got the courage to unleash her creativity. With that continuous support she was able to overcome rejection (Everyone gets rejected at first), break the morays (Our society has assigned gender roles which restrict what a person can do, try being a male makeup artist for example in Pakistan).
The blazing inferno inside of her keeps her hungry for more all the time this why to her every new day is a new challenge and every new shoot is better then the last. For her present is what matters not what the past had in it which is why when she is low she reminds herself that she might have joined the field a little latter then she wanted but where she is now is what matters. A lot of girls in Pakistan will go through what she went through and this why she is always very vocal about her journey. It wasn't a fairy tale for her and neither will it be for them but its determination and persistence which is what one needs if they are brave enough to chase their dreams. For her the journey began with a sweet sight but soon it turned into a dark nightmare when she had to explain her life choices, then it went even darker when she had to forgo opportunities that would have been life changing because of her gender but then with time and her determination she managed to turn those dark times into brighter ones, staying persistent caused the people around to see that she was right and what she asked for was not so bad, it made them realize that her happiness lies in what she's doing and if they stop her from doing it out of love they would be the main reason for her unhappiness. Don't be fooled into thinking that these were the only troubles she had, the hardest were to get recognition, in the age of internet it is far easier to find people who will try to push you, pull you down or hold you back then those who will give you a chance to express yourself, experiment or make mistakes and this is what made her strong. The repeated rejection gave her the will to be better and the continuous reminders of her being a female and how she shouldn't be doing something kept the fire in her alive to do. So her message to every female out their is plain and simple "You are NOT LESSER then a man, so choose and do what you want too. The world is scared of how you might be better and this is why they tell you that you cant do"
The industry is evolving, a few decades ago photography was limited to just a few genres like wedding, events and calamities but with the advent of cheaper imaging technologies more and more people are joining the stage which is making it harder to get recognized in the above three genres. This will eventually lead to exploration of the field in other genres, landscape photography for example has seen a boost in the past 5 years. As for what makes a good picture, their isn't a set formula sometimes even a random click can stand out and sometimes even the most timed shot can look obscene. But the essence to a good shot lies in what you have in your head, good storytelling is a very important of a picture, the viewer a random image is never powerful but an image that has a story inside of it is what changes the world and even how people view somethings. So try being an artist not a photographer and focus on story telling not on the subject.
Future is a mystery and life has a way of making you do things that it wants you too. So she doesn't really has a plan all she has are hopes of continuing her work in photography plus get into cinematography.
Name: TIMES SQUAREDescription: With a spectacular view of the Times Square Tower, this energetic wall mural is...
Posted by A bit different on Wednesday, 20 May 2015
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