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Stuart Klipper

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People in Pakistan: Portraits from 1987

People in Pakistan: Portraits from 1987
People in Pakistan: Portraits from 1987

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People in Pakistan: Portraits from 1987 | Media List


Statement

In 1987 two friends--inveterate, wide-ranging, and intrepid travelers--invited me to join them on a 3-week trip throughout Pakistan, a country they knew extremely well, having had traveled in it on several prior occasions. This go, they wanted bring me along in order to show me a part of the world, and a range of cultures, I might have otherwise never seen, or experienced. They, in effect, were "old Pakistan hands" and thus familiar with the nation's varied regions and peoples. They knew the ropes--the in and outs--of such demanding travel. They were familiar with the country's more off the beaten tracks and back country; its rural and tribal areas; its inner-city neighborhoods--their back streets and alleyways and souks--and, the camps of the Afghani refugees that had fled the Russian war, then still ongoing. I set off on the trip thinking that when it came to making photographs of the people I would be encountering--be they Bengali, Punjabi, Baluch, Pashtun, Swati, etc.--I would take a respectful, modest, and perhaps even oblique stance, thus hoping to avoid being intrusive, awkward, and brash. This was not to be. As matters turned out I, more often than not, found myself in circumstances that were quite to the contrary. Whenever my camera appeared, I was never really truly able to stand quietly aside, to remain aloof. More often than not, I became the automatic center of attraction, with individual after individual--either solo or in a group--presenting themselves forthrightly in front of me for a formal portrait. The lack of a mutual language never posed any significant problems--they knew what I was about, and it was cleared what they wanted me to do. It seems to me that there is something akin to a "universal" dynamic, or understanding, about photography's wonts; in these instances all responses (except in the case of adult woman--don't even think about it!--making photographs of them was an ironclad taboo) were all decidedly positive. It did though eventually dawn on me that, and with true poignancy, my photograph might well be the only one that would ever be made of whoever it was I was photographing. I have been haunted by this elegiac insight ever since--perhaps a parallel sentiment still dwells with my some of my subjects. Recognizing this, I gladly obliged--as much as I was able--but, the demand was so great, and frequent, that I foresaw myself quickly exhausting my limited supply of film. So, alas, at times all I could do was to resort to a deceitful ploy. I would bring my camera up to my eye and--clicking my tongue and twitching my shutter finger--I would fake making an exposure. Everyone was always satisfied; I, unfailingly frustrated. Notwithstanding, I brought home a reasonably prodigious number of preserved visages. Once back, I tended to the processing and printing and felt the results to be both gratifying and strong. I showed the work to a few friends and then carefully boxed it all up and put it safely away on a storage shelf--as is often usual, not really knowing when, or if, the work would see ever again see the light of day.

Reviews

This work was featured in 5 Minutes of Fame, a 28-hour webcast that first played December 5-6, 2002. A panel of Minnesota curators representing the visual arts, performing arts, media arts, literary arts, design and architecture selected 130 of the works showcased in the 5 Minutes of Fame webcast. The other work in the webcast was submitted by individual artists and nearly 30 different arts organizations from across Minnesota.

5 Minutes of Fame marked the public launch of mnartists.org's new interface. Additional information about the event is available at http://5fame.mnartists.org/press/pressoffice.html