History through lens: Photo walk through Walled City next month

The walk will start from Mochi Gate and end at Fort Road food Street<br /> .

LAHORE: The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) in collaboration with Lahore Photography Club will arrange a photo walk from Mochi Gate to Fort Road Food Street on October 18.

The route of the walk will be Mochi Gate, Masjid Saleh Kamboh, Kucha Poorbian, Lal Khoo, Nisar Haveli, Mohalla Shian, Chowk Nawab Sahib, Mubarak Haveli, Chehal Bibian, Haveli Wajid Ali Shah, Takiya Sadwaan, Siryaan Wala Bazaar, Waan Market, Sunehri Masjid, Kinari Bazaar, Wacho Wali Bazaar Gumti Bazaar, Sedh Mitha Bazaar, Chowk Nogaza Peer and Fort Road food Street.

WCLA Media and Marketing Deputy Director Tania Qureshi told The Express Tribune that photography had become a constituting factor in social practice of tourism.

“Most young people in Pakistan feel they know Lahore because of the thousands of images of the city they have seen,” she said.

“The photo walk will help promote the Walled City,” said Qureshi. She said the previous photo walk was arranged from Lohari Gate to Fort Road Food Street.

“What people see is likely to influence their opinion than what they simply read or hear. This is why we use this media to promote our heritage and culture. We had almost 300 participants in the last photo walk and this time we expect more people,” she said.

She said photographers from across the world attended the photo walk.

Lahore Photography Club president Masood Ahmed Khan said a photo walk was the act of walking around with your camera and photographing your surroundings.

“Recently the term has become synonymous with a group of photographers walking in predetermined locations and sharing their imagery,” Khan said.

WCLA Marketing and Tourism Director Asif Zaheer said the effect of photography in modern times had raised a number of concerns.

“The impact of modern photography can be seen on society. We see an increased number of photographers in each photo walk. Our trained tourist guides assist the photographers to capture the city life and monuments.”

Director General Kamran Lashari said photographing the Walled City had always been charismatic for people, but access was difficult due to intricate streets.

“We are here now to lead our young passionate photographers to capture the essence of our heritage through their cameras.”

Nadeem Dar, a photographer, said, “A photographer aims to record and preserve moments in time for generations to come.”

“We are digitally preserving the memories of our ancestors. I like walking in the streets and observe life in Walled City,” Dar said.

Hashim Aslam, another photographer, praised the WCLA and Lahore Photography Club for arranging the activity.

Musab Mian, a Lahore Photography Club member, said weather was pleasant and it was good time to be part of the photo walk.

“The walk helps come across the less explored areas of the Walled City. Each time we select a different route inside the Walled City and this time the route is much more exciting,” Mian said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2014.