ISLAMABAD: Historic images from the UN archives were displayed alongside new photographs by 40 international and 65 Pakistani photojournalists during the dedication ceremony of The United Nations: People on the Move on Friday.

Some of the international photographs dated as far back as the 70s depicting events and scenes from across the world while the local photographs were largely of celebrations of local festivals and cultural events and panoramas of daily life.

The event was hosted by the International Photographic Council (IPC) in collaboration with the Rawalpindi Islamabad Photojournalist Association and the Pakistan National Council of Arts, where it was held.

Health Minister Amir Kiani inaugurated the exhibition and appreciated the work and efforts of the photojournalists who brought into focus numerous aspects of life in Pakistan that need the attention of both the public and the government.

“Our photographers are doing wonderful work and we will do our best to support them,” he said.

He proposed making photojournalists and their families eligible for the government health insurance card.

IPC Chief for South Asia and the Middle East Region Muzamil Izhar Siddiqui: “I want photography in Pakistan to reach an international stature. A photographer has immense responsibility as he or she conveys the face of society to the government, he or she draws the attention of the State where it is required and deserved”.

He went on to discuss the impacts of social media and citizens journalism where everyone is a photographer and a publisher. Comparing photography to chess, Mr Siddiqui said: “Photography deserves a status like that of chess which is a sport although it does not entail any physical effort.

In photography, as in chess, there is mental activity. The idea is the most important thing – a photographer gets a single frame to narrate his entire story. Each photograph must convey the context, the situation and the angle the photographer wishes to convey”.

Khalid Javed Bokhari, an advocate by profession and a photographer through interest, said: “This is actually a passion. You look at a scene, attend an event and then you instantly capture it in a photograph. It clicks with some concept or theme in your mind and that is the photograph you take. The photographs that photojournalists take inspire action. There is much that can be done for and through photojournalism”.

The photographs by Pakistani photojournalists had found space in the largest newspapers in the country while the photographs from the UN archives had been displayed first at the UN Headquarters, then in Germany at the World of Imaging, and after Islamabad they will be shown at Dubai.

Rawalpindi Islamabad Photojournalist Association President Sajjad Haider said: “Our mission is to support the photojournalists of the country. Seven photojournalists from Pakistan will receive the UN Peace Award including Banaras Khan from Quetta, Athar Khan from Karachi, Mohsin Raza from Lahore, Mohammad Tahir from Faisalabad, Khalid Chaudhry from Multan, Waseem Khan from Islamabad and Farman Jan from Peshawar”.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2018