ISLAMABAD – Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) hosted a photography exhibition by the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), bringing together photographs from across Pakistan taken in flood-affected areas by the its own aid workers. The exhibition will be displayed in Islamabad for a week after which the collection will travel to Lahore, Karachi and Geneva.
The collection of some 30 photographs was chosen from a pool of over 200 pictures by organisers, Stacey Winston and Billi Bierling. Bierling and Winston are both public information officers at OCHA and say this is the first time the UN’s own staff members decided to put their photographs of a humanitarian crisis on display in Pakistan.
The images are almost of the Pakistanis affected by the flood, with only two of the collection featuring aid work being done by the UN and other humanitarian agencies. “We didn’t want this to be a brochure of the UN’s achievements,” says Bierling. “I wanted this display to be about the survivors and to reflect the courage and resilience of the victims.”
The photo’s simple, candid shots are carried by their subjects: a group of girls playing an exuberant game in a courtyard, a tiny newborn cradled in his mother’s arms, a woman gazing at the flooded banks of the river from under a cot, and a lone helicopter flying over the orchards that look like inundated paddy fields. The devastating floods have been captured with grace and compassion, showing images of destruction and loss but also repeating a simple message: life must go on.
Many of the Pakistani and foreign visitors on the opening night are aid workers and the exhibit is a powerful reminder that there is much to be done. “It’s very emotional, because we work with the flood victims every day,” says Sara. “This motivates me, it tells me I need to work harder.”
