19th August is celebrated as World’s photography day. A profession which has always lured new comers as it requires a person to see through the eyes. The daring and challenging aspects of the decades old profession, is what brings throngs of people to adopt it.
Photography has transformed immensely over the years, meaning the there are new cool gadgets, improved techniques, innovative technology and a challenging environment in which a photographer has to survive in. There are multitudes of lenses which range beyond grasp of the human eye, cameras with awe striking features and option. With every passing day the race for a clearer and impactful picture is thriving.
We may use a lot of fancy words and jargon for photography these days, what we essentially fail to understand is that photography is the art of playing with light. The lense, film reel or digital cameras, all components work on the principles of the eye. Having being born with the inspiration of making a device similar to the eye, the cameras manufacturers have done wonders. The introduction of pixels in the digital from reel was indeed a breakthrough, picking up the pace of the fast moving world. Giving credit to the boom of smartphones for a craze of photography, many amateurs have been born. The selfie craze and now the latest dronies are a new obsession, quite popular among the younger aged people.
Little did we know that a self portrait, what we officially call a ‘selfie’ is a decade old concept. The first selfie was taken in the year 1893 by amateur chemist and photography enthusiast Robert Cornelius. The first ever selfie required this inventor to put the camera lens on and off and stopping for a minute to capture the image, hence born the first old age selfie.
Coming back to the contemporary age, photography holds a special place in everyone’s heart. A phone which boasts a good front/back camera is much preferred over other features in most cases. There are many kinds of photography but the one which is currently in vogue within the Pakistani community is wedding photography. Many photographers have earned a handsome amount of money and received recognition solely based on the photos taken at weddings. High end cameras, various ranges of lenses used with flood lighting used to light up the wedding halls can make anybody look quite photogenic. It is not only the couple and their family who wants to be highlighted but young guys and girls also have their chance for stardom if one of the best photographers is covering the wedding. K-Bridals started by Kashif Rashid who is now one of the prestigious photographers is much awaited at weddings. Some couples have claimed to book the photographer first and kept the dates according to their super busy schedule.
Everyone has the potential to become a model and the generation today feels confident in front of the camera more than anything else. Photography has always been around but digital is what gave it more exposure hence every moment is photographed and taken care of.
Photography in Karachi was born in many small studios where people would go to have their pictures taken. The earliest of such studio is Jimmy’s studio which situated in Khada market. Flocks of high school kids, college graduates, couples and friends would go to the studio to have a memorable picture. Soon after we were hit by digitalism, everyone was a born photographer. Owning a DSLR is not only a trend but a need among the youth. Anybody can save up and buy a small digital camera or a DSLR hence we see lots of amateurs running around with the cameras.
Looking back at those photographs, makes one smile and reminisce that moment. Here’s to all those wonderful memories, Happy World’s Photography day!
