KARACHI: For many people, one of the most prized possessions that they can cherish are photos. Preserved in albums or when mounted and framed, they are safely and lovingly put on corner tables or mantelpieces. Windows to our past, they bring back forgotten memories and are the tangible presence of happenings that in some cases, cannot be enacted again.

Just as photos make you remember the past, they also bring pleasure of things around you, in the present. For some it is a hobby to while away the time in pleasure, and for others it has a deeper meaning, it becomes a profession, a labour of love attaining the level of art. And the credit for all this goes to Joseph Niepce, the man who made photography possible in 1816.

At the inauguration of Photospace, the first photo gallery in Karachi, six well-known photographers’ works were showcased on Tuesday. The theme chosen for the occasion was chiaroscuro, a technique followed by the old masters of the Renaissance period, Carevagio and Rembrandt, by playing up light and shade of images. The images exhibited in the gallery focus on the individual perspectives of the technique used by photographers Amean J, Tapu Javeri, Stephan Andrew, Arif Mahmood, Danish Tapal and Ayesha Vellani.

Ayesha Mahmood, the curator of Photospace, said that the gallery was opened to promote photographs as an art. “Photo galleries are taken very seriously around the world and this one is the first of its kind in Pakistan.”

Exhibitions would be held on a monthly basis and the gallery would only showcase photography. The need for a place for photographers was acutely felt by them. Zahir Rahimtolla, the man behind the idea of a photo gallery, said that the reason for this gallery was to show people that photography didn’t just mean newspaper and wedding photos.

All the works were pieces of art, and many looked like paintings rather than photographs. A labour of love and experience, each photo had a story to tell with its dramatic interplay of light and shade work, turning the mundane image into an ethereal one.Arif Mahmood, a veteran photographer working since the 1980s and whose work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, focusses on light and object when daylight has nearly disappeared. One delightful example at the exhibition was an image of kittens walking in and out of light and shade. “This style is close to my heart. I like darkness in my photography as it is more intense. If you have the right light, the work becomes easy. This work is also effective in colour, but more difficult to achieve.”

Tapu Javeri’s photographs were more graphic and linear, using twilight for his traditional, cultural-oriented pictures. “These photos are excerpts from my upcoming book Shades of Green which focus on images of Pakistan. The art of photography is painting it with light and shade, but through the lens.”

Ayesha Vellani’s images were of women and children in Kashmir where she had gone specially for this purpose. Being a woman, she was allowed to go into the houses and take photographs. Using window light, her images in colour give the effect of paintings. Vellani is the only Pakistani to attend the Eddie Adam workshop, which is held in New York, and is also a recipient of an award from New York Times.

Danish Tapal, one of the founders of the Karachi Photographic Society, specialises in colour. His images focussed on water and its reflection, giving it a texture-oriented and graphic perspective, while Amean J’s images of trees showcased the graphic and organic composition of his perspective of the chiaroscuro technique.

Stephan Andrew, relatively new in the field, chooses to shoot in early morning and late evening when there is a soft play of shadow in the light. “It challenges me as it is very tricky to meter the light at such moments and it is the play of light that creates the illusion that the photographer wants.” The image on the invitation card of a man selling tea at the Empress Market is by Andrews.