Islamabad :An exceptionally interesting exhibition of vintage photographs by Zaidis photographers—Pakistan’s oldest photography studio dating back to 1930—is currently ongoing at Tanzara, whose Director Noshi Qadir has curated the show, in addition to three others being held at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) in connection with the Islamabad Art Festival.
Titled ‘Dastak,’ this exhibition of a hundred photographs shot between 1930s to 2000s offers an extraordinary opportunity to view, both known and unknown personalities from Pakistan’s history. It is often said that a photograph is worth a thousand words, touching people at a deeper level than even the most eloquent writing. Even the world’s oldest photographs, those that may seem so very distant from today’s high-tech society, may tug at your heart strings or give you a sense of belonging. These historical photos reiterate that sense of belonging by making the viewer to look at Pakistan’s history, and the world, just a little bit differently.
The show includes portraits of Quaid-e-Azam, Queen Elizabeth, Jacky Kennedy, and Imran Khan, among others. The coming together of Pakistan is a nation of contrasts, where the nation’s past and present co-exist, where oral histories live through generations and where multiple narratives thrive alongside each other. This show presents this plethora of narratives and faces of Pakistan: all of the characters photographed collide to create this extraordinary visage—a fascinating collection of fragments that contain the essence of their time. They speak a language that is inarticulate: whether we know the stories behind these famous photos or not, they define our history itself.
Zaidi’s Photographers is a family-owned photography business started by two brothers who studied portrait painting at the Mayo School of Arts at the turn of the century. Syed Wazir Ali Zaidi went to Banaras while Syed Nazir Ali Zaidi went to Allahabad, where they started their Portrait Painting and Photography Studios in 1904.
Syed Mohammed Ali Zaidi, the eldest son of Syed Nazir Ali, learnt his skills working with his father in Allahabad and migrated back to Lahore in 1928. Here, he set up his studio on the Mall in 1930, where it still stands as a proud landmark of Lahore.
The studio, in its history of 90 years, has photographed thousands of people including many distinguished personalities. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah came for his portrait to the studio, as did Liaquat Ali Khan and Fatima Jinnah. Rajas, Governors and even Her Majesty Queen Zein-al-Sharaf of Jordan were photographed by Zaidis.
Shahid Zaidi, the son, learnt his skills working at the studio after school and eventually took over the studio in the early part of the 1960s. The studio has seen many changes in its time from working with large format cameras, to roll film, color photography, strobe lights and now digital cameras. The wet darkrooms where magic of print-making took place now houses computers and inkjet printers. Photography then was an art dependent on skill.
Zaidis Photographers has a huge archive of negatives which were made at the studio. There are volumes of bound books containing complete customer records. Each customer record consists of a unique number, which is marked on the negative. The name, address and date are entered in the record and the negative is stored in the archive library. The entire archive is an overwhelming example of the studio’s ability to maintain the highest standard over all these years.
The thought of digitizing the archive occurred several times over the years but the logistics of such an undertaking are daunting. It requires a substantial grant and several years to scan each negative and build a data base. Finally, the project was started with the help of a small grant which was barely enough. Today, the project has come to a standstill due to the lack of funding. Zaidis’ goal is to digitize the archive, which consists of around 500,000 negatives and build a database which can be put online and made public.
The photographs at this exhibition offer just a glimpse into the huge volumes of work done by Zaidis since 1930s.