Farah Mahbub

A brief association with an advertising agency photographer, right out of college, led me to photography which had me captivated, and there has been no looking back since. Working at the agency for a year, I collected enough money to buy my first camera and photo equipment in 1988.

Taking up various freelance projects over a span of ten years I finally started teaching photography at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, Karachi in 1997 where I continue to teach presently.

Being largely self-taught I exhausted my resources to educate myself with the science and technique of the camera and the darkroom. The main advantage of being self-taught, I discovered, is that one’s ideas can develop more originally independent of any influence; however, it did take longer because there was no teacher, and institutions offering photography in Pakistan in those days.

I eventually started having exhibitions in order to share my work, doing commercial projects for self-support and fine art photography for personal pleasure.