Framing her vision: She who doesn’t shoot to kill

I have a passion for photography. I feel lucky to be a woman who is pursuing her dream says Gulmina.

SHABQADAR:

Gulmina Mohmand wants to tell the story of ordinary people with her camera.

She has always been interested in photography – when she didn’t have a camera, she used her phone. While at university, the 25-year-old enrolled in a week-long photography programme. “I went in for an interview and they liked the photos I had taken with my phone,” she said. “I was amazed at how useful photography could be.” She was given basic photojournalism training where the goal was to find stories of people living in her area – their routine, their lives.



Once Gulmina graduated from university and moved back home, she started using the camera again – this time to photograph school-going children. “I knew I had the power to show anything through photographs and I focused on girls in school getting an education and the beautiful tribal areas of the country,” she said.

In the last two years, her career has skyrocketed. After attending the training course, she went on to win a photo essay competition and then taught photography to youngsters from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas between the ages of 13 to 18.

Gulmina has also had several exhibitions in the country and abroad.



“I have a passion for photography. I feel lucky to be a woman who is pursuing her dream,” she said. “If I can inspire even one girl I will feel that I have achieved something good.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2014.