“Lahore is history, culture, home. Anyone who writes or expresses views about Lahore will have a different experience to share. My primary interest is in the Walled City because every time you go there you find something new. The more you read, the more you’re fascinated by the area. No amount of pictures can justify that ambiance and life”, is how Dr Mehreen Hasan feels about the city that became a home away from home, and one that she’s captured through her lens over the years.

Photographer by passion and cardiologist by profession, Dr Hasan has now put together some of her best photographs depicting the vibrant life, captivating history and rich culture of Lahore in the form of a coffee table book -- Lahore by Heart -- which was launched in June and is now available at bookstores and online.

Multan-born Dr Hasan has been in Lahore since her graduation from the Allama Iqbal Medical College in the late 90s, and has been associated with the Punjab Institute of Cardiology for 15 years. Though she’s been pursuing photography as a hobby for as long as she can remember, the idea of a book popped up a couple of years ago only.

“Photography runs in my genes because both my father and grandfather were passionate about it; they developed photos back in the days themselves in those darkrooms. So that inspired me. My DSLR was always with me whenever I would take guests to show around Lahore. I remember upgrading from a point-to-shoot to a DSLR around 2008-09. After that it was just self-learning through tutorials and videos online,” she tells Dawn.

After having clicked thousands of pictures of various corners and monuments of the city, someone suggested she compile them into a book. And it was in 2019 that Dr Hasan grabbed

her camera again and set out to her favourite part of Lahore: the Walled City. That way, she ended up capturing the area before, during and after renovation of some of its streets.

Later, when the Covid pandemic hit, and she got a little break from the hospital, she sat down, selected from thousands of pictures she’d taken and then started reading about those places and their history.

“I was most interested in the Walled City because every time you go there you find something new. When I started compiling the book, I read up a lot about the places I clicked and their history. The more you read, the more you’re fascinated. During Eid Miladun Nabi it’s decorated so beautifully that no amount of pictures can justify that ambiance. I couldn’t pay attention to the rest of the city because the Walled City only consumes you, especially Wazir Khan mosque that I’ve covered from almost all angles,” says Dr Hasan, explaining why her book primarily contains pictures from the old part of the city.

She says through her 128-page book she wants to create awareness among those dwellers of the city who haven’t seen much of it despite living here. “I want to make people aware of the beautiful architecture and culture of the city that they don’t go and visit. Foreigners come and explore the city, but its own citizens don’t. Every corner, every street is fascinating.”

She’s aware that it’s just the tip of the Lahori ‘iceberg’ she’s touched through her book, but has come out of the area with a newfound fondness for the locals. “Only 10-20 per cent has been touched. Everybody has a different aspect of Lahore; everybody sees it in a different way. More than the monuments, what’s fascinating is the locals you encounter who tell you their history, how and when they settled in an area, the history of their own house and how it’s been transformed. This interaction with people is amazing; they’re so friendly and forthcoming. When I went to cover Eid Miladun Nabi, people were so hospitable that they would invite me over to their houses, offer halwa puri or whatever they’d be cooking. You won’t find such hospitality in places like DHA.”

In the next two years, Dr Hasan plans to launch another such book covering other areas of Lahore. “I couldn’t cover The Mall because you need permissions for certain buildings. So I will sort that out and then work on another book.”

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2022