Pakistan and Kashmir 2022.
On December 15th 2022, I visited Pakistan and Kashmir with my mother for the first time. This trip was initially planned and booked pre-pandemic, but as our trip drew closer to lockdown we had to postpone. Even so, I’m glad we ended up doing it this way. God’s plan always seems to be the best. Below are some of the memories that I have made through photo and video. I don’t consider myself a photographer, but I do enjoy taking pictures and telling stories. This particular story is a love letter to my grandparents and mother.
iPhone Pictures.
The first picture starts in the bustling city of Lahore in Pakistan, before moving into the more peaceful slow living of my village of Tangdew in Azad Kashmir. We greeted my Bava (maternal grandfather) at the Lahore airport and stayed for two nights, exploring the city whilst trying to combat the jetlag. I reunited with my Nani (maternal grandmother) at home in the village. I say home deliberately, even though this was my first time seeing the house my grandparents and mother lived in for years. Because my Nani and Bava were there, it really just felt like an extension of them, warm and familiar. I was back to feeling like a child staying at my grandparents for the weekend.
Film.
Below is a short video capturing my journey. My Bava took me and my mother out every single day, making sure we could make the best memories possible. To say we were spoilt was an understatement. For reference, my family call me Seeba, it’s a nickname of my full name Haseebah. You’ll hear this a few times in the video curtesy of my mother and grandad.
35 mm.
The final part to this segment is the shots I took on 35mm film. If you saw me with my shalwar kameez and trainers on, you’d also spot the film camera neatly hanging around my neck. One of my favourite moments is my Chacha Nasar (great uncle) getting dressed up and asking for me to take a picture by the family orange tree. The posing next to a tree of some sort seems to be a family tradition.
Wagah border, Lahore.
A cat sitting in a graveyard in Mirpur.
Bava with our tuktuk driver.
Village gathering in Tangdew, Mirpur.
Outside Badshahi masjid, Lahore.
Chacha Nasar (my great uncle) with the family orange tree.
Bava is performing wudhu (ablution) whilst my nani is doing the laundry.
Nani purchasing some vegetables in Chakswari.
Girls gathering in Faisal masjid, Islamabad.
Inside Badshahi masjid, Lahore.
My mother lying down in the courtyard of my grandparents house.
Inside Khari Sharif darbaar.
Aunty Ruksana’s goats grazing.
Overall, it’s hard to sum up this trip in so many words without making it cliche. I was apprehensive when I arrived, but left feeling peaceful. My days were spent exploring all the historical sights and bazaars, eating some of the best food I’ve had, and piling up the parcels of clothes one by one. Evenings were something else entirely, they’re moments I’ll continue to treasure. From everyone huddled together for dinner, picking up freshly cut fruit, to watching my Nani and Bava perform Isha, the final prayer of the day, everything about it was just so…perfect.
I hope to create some artwork that will conjure up these memories in a whole new light in the future, combining my love for storytelling and printmaking. However for now, I leave you with this. A shadow of a project, inspired by a trip so short yet so sweet.