Nature, up close and personal
Macro-photo exhibition by Syed Ghazi at Nairang Galleries.
LAHORE:
Forty-two photos by Ghazanfar Abbas, also known as Syed Ghazi, of tiny objects blown up to massive proportions are on display at Nairang Galleries until June 23.
Ghazi is best known for capturing Lahore’s cultural heritage, but in his seventh exhibition he has set out to show unusual images of nature through macro-photography, whereby very small objects are shown at high magnification. “Photography isn’t considered a very serious art form in Pakistan, unlike everywhere else in the world. The same is true of macro-photography,” said Ghazi. The pictures were taken with a Nikon D80 camera and macro lens, with no post treatment of the images. Each picture is valued at Rs10,000.
“There are very few artists in Pakistan who have contributed to macro-photography so I really wanted to come and see this exhibition,” said visitor Qaran Aziz. “This technique has revived photography and I’d like to see Pakistani artists take it seriously.” She said her favourite picture was a close-up of a cotton seed.
NCA graduate Ribqa Malik selected an image of a sunflower stamen as the best. “I’m a big fan of sunflowers and one of the photographs looked so real I felt I could touch it,” she said. Architect Nayyer Ali Dada liked two photographs; one of the edge of a palm leaf, and the second of a palm tree. “They have the impact of a painting,” he said.
The exhibition was inaugurated on Friday by Orya Maqbool Jan.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2011.
Forty-two photos by Ghazanfar Abbas, also known as Syed Ghazi, of tiny objects blown up to massive proportions are on display at Nairang Galleries until June 23.
Ghazi is best known for capturing Lahore’s cultural heritage, but in his seventh exhibition he has set out to show unusual images of nature through macro-photography, whereby very small objects are shown at high magnification. “Photography isn’t considered a very serious art form in Pakistan, unlike everywhere else in the world. The same is true of macro-photography,” said Ghazi. The pictures were taken with a Nikon D80 camera and macro lens, with no post treatment of the images. Each picture is valued at Rs10,000.
“There are very few artists in Pakistan who have contributed to macro-photography so I really wanted to come and see this exhibition,” said visitor Qaran Aziz. “This technique has revived photography and I’d like to see Pakistani artists take it seriously.” She said her favourite picture was a close-up of a cotton seed.
NCA graduate Ribqa Malik selected an image of a sunflower stamen as the best. “I’m a big fan of sunflowers and one of the photographs looked so real I felt I could touch it,” she said. Architect Nayyer Ali Dada liked two photographs; one of the edge of a palm leaf, and the second of a palm tree. “They have the impact of a painting,” he said.
The exhibition was inaugurated on Friday by Orya Maqbool Jan.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2011.