Photography show: A peek inside Lahore’s Walled City

Exhibition features images of street life, architecture and monuments

LAHORE: Around 450 pictures by photography enthusiasts featuring glimpses into the street life, architecture and monuments of Lahore’s old city areas are on display at the Alhamra Art Gallery.

The exhibition – part of the 4th annual event called ‘Wekh Lahore Exhibition and Photo Contest’ – has been organised by the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) and will run till May 2. The event is primarily for young photographers and the lovers of Lahore, according to WCLA Deputy Director Tania Qureshi.



While talking to The Express Tribune, she said the authority received almost 700 images of the walled city in different categories, out of which 450 images were selected for display.

“The most famous category is of monuments,” she said. “People have photographed some unusual images of the walled city this time around and it shows that enthusiasts are exploring the city on their own, bringing out unique aspects every time.”



Tania asserted that one of the main objectives of holding such events was to promote tourism in Lahore. “Across the world, tourism is promoted through pictures that go viral on social media and this is how we plan to publicise our tourist spots inside the walled city,” she elaborated.

While speaking at the inauguration of the exhibition, Lahore Commissioner Abdullah Sumbul said the WLCA was promoting the heritage and culture with modern tools of marketing. “Such activities are encouraging our youngsters and I hope similar activities will increase with time,” he added.

WLCA Director-General Kamran Lashari said this medium of communication through pictures was more effective than words. “It is encouraging to see people taking more interest in heritage and cultural sites these days.



If I look back, it was not a trend but now I find many photographers and youngsters roaming around with their cameras in the walled city,” he added.

Photographer Arshad Ghori, who was also in the exhibition’s jury, said it was a refreshing experience looking at the work of emerging talent. “Every year, the quality of photographs has been improving and I am glad more and more photographers are participating in this event, indicating that more people are visiting the city,” he added.

Submissions for the event were sent to the WCLA where the images were selected based on the frame, story, light and clarity of the image. The winners were given a prize money of Rs100,000, 75,000 and 50,000 in both the categories of monuments and street life.

Winners of the first three positions in monuments category were Salman Mehmood, Muhammad Asher, and Fawad Malik, respectively, while Zoya Khan, Hassan Ahmed, and Sher Zaman secured the top three positions in the category of street life.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2017.