Daily grind: With Faisal Farooqui

One of Pakistan’s finest fashion photographers breaks down his day for us. Find out what he does from the moment he drops his daughters to school, till the moment he starts cooking for his wife

6am:

I leave my bed thinking why oh why do I have to do this! Eventually, get out of bed and start to wake my girls up. I then offer my prayers, get ready for the day, and have breakfast with my girls.

7am:

I rush to the car and I start to drive off to school to drop my girls off. On the way we have our usual, routine chit-chat session. We listen to music and plan the day ahead of us.

8am:

After I’ve dropped the girls off to school, I’ll usually go back home but sometimes, I just sleep in the car for an hour or so instead. I love watching movies and listening to my kind of music when I am alone at home, however, I hate being home alone. I am a bit of a workaholic; I always have to be on-the-go.



9am:

I drive to the car wash now; unless I have nashta plans at some fun place or a breakfast meeting with friends or family. I love cooking for my friends and family; on weekends, when there is no tension of waking up early in the morning, I’ll cook for my wife and even call some friends over.

10am:

Now my day really begins. The next four hours of my day consist primarily of meetings and shoots. Sometimes I’ll pop out and take a break to go grocery shopping, but usually, it’s meeting-shoot-meeting-shoot for the rest of the day.

1pm:

I pick up my girls from school and head back home.

2pm:

I listen to some music and chit-chat a bit more. I attend any phone calls I need to. I am still in work-zone so my focus right now is on my work and job deliveries.

3pm:

I say my prayers and have a quick lunch in my office. Shortly after, I’m back to work.

4pm:

I sit down to discuss important decisions with the Dragonfly team.



5pm:

Usually I have one assignment or another, so I start to get ready. This time is also occupied with shoots or a wedding coverage.

6pm:

I am driving as fast as I can. This is the deadliest time of the day to drive in Lahore as everyone is rushing to reach their destinations and people are just getting off from work.

9pm:

I like to have an early dinner when I am at home; but if I’m not home, I’ll just go with the flow of my hungry stomach.

10pm: 

We wrap up things at work.

11pm: 

I drive home, say my prayers and copy the assignment onto a hard drive. Sometimes I sit till quite late to finish the editing and send the final work to the organiser, PR companies and the press directly. If it’s only a wedding event that I have covered, I simply send it out immediately. My batteries are finally charging and preparing to sleep.

12am: 

Goodnight!

1am: 

On weekends, I stay up much later. I love watching movies and eating out with friends and family. I also love travelling, both locally and internationally. Currently, I am dreaming of a holiday, and that’s why they say, this is what dreams are made of.