Through the 75mm lens: A window to the past

Fakhar Zaman Azer is considered the bastion of photography in city.

PESHAWAR:

Fakhar Zaman Azer’s lens has captured the sights and flavours of the city in breathtaking images. Each picture is a window to Peshawar’s past and offers a nostalgia-filled photographic tour of the city through time.

The 76-year-old photographer, who is popularly known as Uncle Tony, is considered the bastion of photography in the city. The camera is both his canvas and his claim to fame.

Polo being played in Chitral

Lady Diana in Torkham

Uncle Tony has received over three dozen awards from numerous national and international organisations. His pictures have also been published in several daily newspapers and magazines.

Blast from the past

As one meanders through the narrow lanes of the old market in Saddar, it is hard to miss his small studio which has been there for decades.

Uncle Tony’s den is full of a wide range of sepia-tainted and black and white pictures he has taken over the last several years. His collection of photographs is truly one-of-a-kind and includes snapshots of veteran politicians, heritage sites and famous personalities. Some images offer nostalgic reminiscences of the city’s bygone days when the simple pleasures of life were of great importance.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto visiting the tribal areas

General Ziaul Haq visiting Peshawar

These photographs are not just a window to our past. They mark the city’s transition to the bustling metropolis it is today. They portray what we have lost and what we might never be able to retrieve.

Uncle Tony has not only captured the many cultural facets of Peshawar, but has also documented his journeys to over 25 countries where he was accompanied by his long-time companion, a Rolleicord camera.

Uncle Tony is not driven by self-delusion or self-importance. On the contrary, he is still unaware of how valuable his collection is.

Benazir Bhutto, Academician Nancy Dupree   and  Libyan dictator Qaddafi at Islamia College University

“I only photographed what I saw,” he tells The Express Tribune. “I never knew these pictures would gain such significance.”

Free for all

His collection of photographs are available for anyone and everyone. Scores of visitors arrive at the studio on a daily basis to sift through the extensive collection and take a walk down memory lane.

A cursory look at the collection unearths fascinating insights of a bygone era.

Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid

“All these buildings have vanished,” the 76-year-old maintains. “It seems no one cares about our heritage.”

. “This collection is a frozen world that warms our imagination,” he adds.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2015.