Like Baba, Like Bia

Baba, my father, used to call me Bia. Many times, I have recounted the various gifts I received from him—though often not appreciative of them when they were presented. Here, I recount those that have guided my aesthetic journey.

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Headless Male Torsos

From childhood into my teens, every time I’d see a headless male torso, I would grant it an imaginary head of my heart throb.

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Seeds of Couch Surfing

Whilst blooms are the zenith of a plant, seeds for me are a symbol of death and harbingers of life.

Couch Surfing has had its blossoms and now has gone to seed. Its concept was introduced to me by a stranger in the seat beside me, on a flight back to London from Delhi in 2008. Simple principle, if you have a couch to spare, and you feel a connection with the shared interests of a traveller, you become their host or guest. Continue reading Seeds of Couch Surfing

Hyper Real Zoomable Portraits

After much deliberation, I am pleased that the wealth of details held in these portraits can now be fluidly viewed online via Zoomable.

My desire to seek out masks worn in the name of masculinity, started with a working title Mas(k)culinities. Realised after a few years that it’s not just the men scarred by the expected role play of their gender, notion of what is considered feminine, has equally damaged generations Continue reading Hyper Real Zoomable Portraits

Summer of ’88

Little did I know in the start of that summer it was my last one in Lahore. By the fall of same year I was 6,300 km away on British Council fellowship at Chelsea School of Arts. Then I was teaching photography at NCA. Most afternoons,after college, I would traipse the city to discover new places, sample food, drink copious quantities of sugarcane juice with lemon and ginger, and to photograph people.

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