Photography Exhibition Echoes of the Tides
A photography exhibition titled ‘Echoes of the Tides’, focusing on Pakistan’s coastal ecosystem, opened at the Pakistan-American Cultural Centre here on Tuesday.
The exhibition has been organised by the Cactus Digital and the IUCN. It will remain open for public from 11:00am to 8:00pm on Wednesday. The work of a leading environmental photographer of Pakistan, Syed Jamshyd Masood, comprising 36 photographs, depicting coastal life and mangroves, is on display at the exhibition.
The photographer had travelled across the country to capture images and collect documents concerning environmental issues and shared them to raise awareness among people. Masood told journalists that his photography was inspired from a couplet of the legendry poet Ghalib. The couplet appealed to the people to protect the gift of God, ie the world by avoiding environmental degradation.
“We are destroying our environment with both hands and in return we are facing its aftermaths in forms of natural disasters, torrential rains, flash floods, cyclones and tsunamis.” He held industries responsible for the pollution, saying the corporate sector should strive for the conservation of nature by not only stopping anti-environmental activities but also promoting environment-friendly ones.
Highlighting the importance of mangroves, he said the trees and the shrubs had an important role in protecting coastal ecology. Masood said mangroves worked as “nails in the sea” as mountains worked as “nails for the earth”. Through his photographs, he tried to draw the attention of authorities towards depleting mangrove forests.
Federal Secretary National Disaster Management Muhammad Javeed Malik, during his visit to the exhibition, said environmental degradation was a big challenge and needed to met on a priority basis.
Malik said that the rising population caused environmental pollution. He added that the role of community was equally important as that of the government. Acclaiming the work of Masood, the secretary said it was remarkable in terms of emphasising the gravity of the issue.
The exhibition was also attended by Dr Steen Christensen, the coordinator of the Mangroves for the Future (MFF) initiative, visiting Pakistan in connection with the MFF activities. The visual documentation by Masood gave a glimpse of Pakistan’s coastal ecosystem, its biodiversity, with his lens also capturing the different facets of lives and livelihood of the coastal communities.
Through Cactus Digital, the photographer will be documenting the work of MFF grant beneficiaries, to allow for the monitoring and evaluation of the assignment undertaken for the conservation and regeneration of the coastal environment in general, and mangroves in particular.
(The News)
