Clicking away: A life spent around photographs

From an engineering student to a photographer, Ghazi Gulam Raza has not let his passion fade.

ISLAMABAD: Ghazi Gulam Raza, the pioneer of visual storytelling through black and white photography in Pakistan, was born in DI Khan in 1936. He discovered his passion for still photography during his early teens while he was still in high school.

As a hobby, Raza started using a Kodak box camera --- an affordable cardboard camera with a simple meniscus lens. He photographed everything that caught his eye, developed the images in a dark room during daylight and printed them himself. “Developing an image in a darkroom for the first time is a timeless experience,” Raza expressed. That feeling when you first see an image appear on a blank sheet of paper is almost magical, he added.



While Raza was enrolled in an engineering degree in Peshawar University, he frequently walked to the Department of Entomology at Forest University after his classes where he would find himself observing the life cycle of insects. “I found different stages of development of an insect incredibly fascinating” he expressed.  After graduating, Raza started working as a photographer at Forest University, where he spent fifteen years capturing the same life cycle repeatedly.



Having no formal education or training in photography, Raza decided to get himself enrolled in an online documentary photography workshop at London Institute of Photography in 1966. “I wanted to brush up my skills and move towards portraiture and landscape photography,” he said.

After moving to Islamabad in 1978, Raza started travelling to the Northern Areas to photograph landscapes and portraits for independent projects. “Autumn is my favourite time of the year to shoot and therefore I travel to Hunza and its surrounding areas every year,” he expressed. Be it Kashmir’s breathtaking mountainous views or Hunza’s historic forts, Raza has photographed them all. He captures landscapes in rich detail, framing his subjects with meticulous focus.

After moving to Islamabad in 1978, Raza started travelling to the Northern Areas to photograph landscapes and portraits. PHOTOS: HUMA CHOUDHARY/EXPRESS

Most of Raza’s portraiture comprises elderly people and children. “I have an eye for telltale wrinkles and expressive eyes,” he said.  He fuses light and atmosphere beautifully with a fine art aesthetic to his portraits.

Raza has also played a significant role in documenting Islamic architecture for which he travelled to Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey and Syria. “I’ve photographed the historic Pul-e-Khishti mosque in Afghanistan, Imam (Shah) mosque in Iran and the picturesque Sultan Ahmed mosque in Turkey.”

Having worked extensively on tourism photography in Pakistan, Raza was awarded a shield by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation in the late 90’s to acknowledge his lifelong dedication to photography. The Capital Development Authority published a book titled “Islamabad the beautiful” in 1992 which carried a variety of photographs taken by Raza.

After moving to Islamabad in 1978, Raza started travelling to the Northern Areas to photograph landscapes and portraits. PHOTOS: HUMA CHOUDHARY/EXPRESS

Raza has also taught several courses in digital photography at Hunerkada College of Visual and Performing Arts during 2001 and 2007.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2014.