Capturing citizens making their own public space

The picture of canal during hot summer day tells story where citizens disregarded checks on their public behaviour

Scores of people bathing in the Lahore Branch Canal to fight the scorching heat is not an uncommon sight in the city during the summers.

One of my long shots of the scene taken in July last year has stayed with me because of the story it told of residents of modest means trying to cope with the excruciating summer in the city. The photoshows families gathered in a portion of the canal – men, women and children – bathing in the water and sitting on the banks.

As I took the photograph from a pedestrian bridge, I also saw officials of the city district government use loudspeakers to remind citizens of the prohibition under section 144 of entering the water body. The crowd disregarded the warnings and continued with their activities. As the portion of the canal got crowded with people, some groups used electric pumps to force water out into buckets with holes in their bases hanging from tree branches. People would use the makeshift showers to battle the heat.

The photo showed families of modest means claiming the Canal as their space. It showed them disregarding an official directive. Public spaces in Lahore do not often encourage people of different genders to interact with one another. This picture of the canal during a hot summer day however told the story of another Lahore where citizens disregarded checks on their public behaviour in their attempt to carve out a space for themselves.