Fahad’s magic enchants Alhamra

Fahad Mehmood describes himself as an ‘expressive soul’, someone who is sensitive to nature and his own surroundings. But his photo exhibition has revealed an impressionable soul in him that absorbs and assimilates almost everything that nature has churned out.
In his photographic exhibition titled “Mera” launched on Thursday, Fahad sent along currents of inspiration to not just the budding photo journalists but also to art-lovers who left the gallery enthralled and moved by the beauty he captured.
Fahad captured some of the most common places in Pakistan from extremely different angles, adding a personal touch. Jinnah’s mausoleum in Karachi for instance had hardly been seen from a low angle. It was either presented as a panoramic picture, or a straight front image. But Fahad chose to shoot it from the main entrance, highlighting the box-like shape of the tomb faintly outlining the rounded dome on top.
The most spectacular photos are the ones in which Fahad’s apparent attraction to yellow is dominant. One is a sunset in Multan, where the beautiful ancient dome of a mosque is shown in a close up. Appearing from behind is the setting sun, throwing specters of light in two different directions as if scattering light beams. This is a unique perspective, whereby instead of capturing the entire mosque, Mehmood has focused only on one part. The framing is marvelous and the composition remarkable.
The next is a sunset in Gawadar. It has been some time since traveling photographers have captured the beaches of Pakistan, especially those in Baluchistan which still remain untouched by urbanisation, and are less polluted and clearer with an array of different kinds of rocks and sand spread out at the shores.
Sunset in Gawadar shows the wonderfully glittering water, speckling with the sunlight from the golden hour. Each ripple beautifully reflects the light. This wondrous scene has a simple composition with nothing to see except the sea, still it takes long to absorb it. Far towards the left of the frame the sun is gently fading away into the slightly orange sky.
Fahad could not resist taking a picture of a milk shop in his photo called “Raiwind”. A man sits staring off the camera lazily in early morning hours.
In the background is a bright yellow shop, an advertising campaign on its own. Not much can be seen inside the shop except a few faint figures and only the square shop with the man outside is picturesque enough.
The most striking pictures in the “yellow” series remain “Sunset at Head Baloki” and “Yellow Sky”. In both these photos, Fahad has captured the deep yellowness of the sky, as smooth as melted ice cream, not a streak of cloud can be seen. It is a close up of the sky. In the foreground, is the dark solid sillouhette of a bird flying in “Yellow Sky” and sitting on a wire in “Sunset at Head Baloki”.
These were highly imaginative shots by Fahad only to be competed with yet another capturing the silhouette of a crow in front of the white ball of moon against the soot black sky. This was titled “Full Moon in Multan”.
Some other excellent pieces were “Side Winder” (track marks made by the snake in heavy desert sand), “Masjid Wazir Khan” (close up of a rope in a pool of water, with a faint reflection of the minarets in the water), “On The Way To Shiger” (a cactus in the foreground highlighting the mountains in the backdrop) and “Rama Lake”.
It would not be fair to leave the other photos aside, because Fahad’s work is beautiful to the point of being magical. The exhibition must not be missed by lovers of art, especially students of photography.