Kohi Marri: Pictures that speak louder than words
Photographer Kohi Marri on Karachi video project and what made him take up the camera
Marri’s last cinematic venture was Dekh Magar Pyar Say. PHOTO: PUBLICITY
KARACHI:
If you’re an admirer of the slick camerawork that projects such as Coke Studio, Uth Records and Dekh Magar Pyar Say are famous for, you must have heard of this 38-year-old called Kohi Marri.
The photographer, who chooses to stay away from the limelight for the most part, was never really a tamer of the lens. It all started for him with a particular course he had to take up, while reading for a degree in architecture at UK’s Oxford Brookes University in 2001. Talking to The Express Tribune, he recalled, “While studying architecture, this one particular course required us to keep cameras at hand and click images of heritage sites.” This compulsion cultivated his love for capturing photos, and he never really made a conscious effort for it.
It didn’t stop there. A few of his friends were music enthusiasts who would perform around the UK. Marri would accompany them to the gigs in London, Oxford and Birmingham, taking pictures of their performances. While this was happening, another friend decided to get married. He requested Marri to take pictures at the events and help capture memories in his distinct way. This went on for a few years until graduation arrived. Photography soon took a back seat and Marri started working as an architect upon his return to Pakistan.
Belgian photographer challenges mindsets about Islam
Back home he met Saher Usman who used to work at a private TV channel. Usman pitched the idea of “clicking heritage sites and historical homes” as part of a project. He signed up for it and that’s how Walled Memories came into being. The show gave him an opportunity to make photography his chief trade and he even hosted the show for a while. “We ran about eight to 10 episodes focusing on old historical homes located primarily in Abbottabad, Lahore and Karachi. The programme garnered a lot of following but since the channel was in a transitionary period, switching from English to Urdu, the show was eventually discontinued.”
The channel may have backtracked but Marri never looked back once and, today, he firmly believes that pictures do speak louder than words. “If there is a complex picture, and it has captured every precise detail, it can easily translate into more than 3,000 words!”
Marri is currently working on a video documenting Karachi and plans on shooting one or two feature films later this year. About his ongoing project, he said, “It is such an interesting city that has so many sides to it which people never see. If you reside in Gulshan, for instance, you don’t know what’s happening in Defence, so on and so forth. We are a segregated bunch, living in different areas,” he stated. By capturing “different human activities” like people making their way to work early morning or rickshaw driver navigating through the city’s major roads during rush hour, Marri intends to immortalise life on the city streets with his video project. “Precisely it documents a day in a life of a Karachiite from different aspects.”
The photographer said his engagements with local artists and musicians influence his work and perspective deeply. “They have a very different view on life and that is why I end up doing more projects for them,” he said.
Apart from films, fashion shoots are also on the cards for him. “I plan to approach things differently and I hope they will excite me.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2016.
If you’re an admirer of the slick camerawork that projects such as Coke Studio, Uth Records and Dekh Magar Pyar Say are famous for, you must have heard of this 38-year-old called Kohi Marri.
The photographer, who chooses to stay away from the limelight for the most part, was never really a tamer of the lens. It all started for him with a particular course he had to take up, while reading for a degree in architecture at UK’s Oxford Brookes University in 2001. Talking to The Express Tribune, he recalled, “While studying architecture, this one particular course required us to keep cameras at hand and click images of heritage sites.” This compulsion cultivated his love for capturing photos, and he never really made a conscious effort for it.
It didn’t stop there. A few of his friends were music enthusiasts who would perform around the UK. Marri would accompany them to the gigs in London, Oxford and Birmingham, taking pictures of their performances. While this was happening, another friend decided to get married. He requested Marri to take pictures at the events and help capture memories in his distinct way. This went on for a few years until graduation arrived. Photography soon took a back seat and Marri started working as an architect upon his return to Pakistan.
Belgian photographer challenges mindsets about Islam
Back home he met Saher Usman who used to work at a private TV channel. Usman pitched the idea of “clicking heritage sites and historical homes” as part of a project. He signed up for it and that’s how Walled Memories came into being. The show gave him an opportunity to make photography his chief trade and he even hosted the show for a while. “We ran about eight to 10 episodes focusing on old historical homes located primarily in Abbottabad, Lahore and Karachi. The programme garnered a lot of following but since the channel was in a transitionary period, switching from English to Urdu, the show was eventually discontinued.”
The channel may have backtracked but Marri never looked back once and, today, he firmly believes that pictures do speak louder than words. “If there is a complex picture, and it has captured every precise detail, it can easily translate into more than 3,000 words!”
Marri is currently working on a video documenting Karachi and plans on shooting one or two feature films later this year. About his ongoing project, he said, “It is such an interesting city that has so many sides to it which people never see. If you reside in Gulshan, for instance, you don’t know what’s happening in Defence, so on and so forth. We are a segregated bunch, living in different areas,” he stated. By capturing “different human activities” like people making their way to work early morning or rickshaw driver navigating through the city’s major roads during rush hour, Marri intends to immortalise life on the city streets with his video project. “Precisely it documents a day in a life of a Karachiite from different aspects.”
The photographer said his engagements with local artists and musicians influence his work and perspective deeply. “They have a very different view on life and that is why I end up doing more projects for them,” he said.
Apart from films, fashion shoots are also on the cards for him. “I plan to approach things differently and I hope they will excite me.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2016.