I gently press down on the button, keeping my finger in place as I listen to the mechanical twists and turns and wait for the beep. Once I hear the familiar sound, I press down once again and hear the quick snap of the shutter, and within seconds I am looking at a photograph. The device in my hands has once again captured a moment in time – one of many that have been, and many more to come.
I remember the first day I really experienced the almost indescribable satisfaction and joy of creating a work of art with the push of a button. My mother had just bought me a brand new Sony digital camera, nothing elaborate – a basic piece of machinery – but it was more than enough. I spent the rest of that day taking photographs of anything and everything I could get my hands on – candles, vases, decoration pieces, flowers and plants in my garden. From that day on, I realized photography was the one thing that could always bring me delight and peace of mind in times of stress or hopelessness. It became a passion that created a place for me to be content, to get away from the world around me when I needed to be by myself. As I grew older and moved into my final years of school, the reality of the world around me became clearer - the reality of Pakistan as a country where the people have little to nothing, and people like me have everything we needed. I wanted to try and help, and so I did.
In my second last year of school, I helped to better the reality of the world I lived in. I organized a photography competition within my school called ‘Colours of Pakistan’, asking students to submit photographs of their own that they believed represented Pakistan. There were several entries from several students, including myself, and the photographs were displayed one day after school and sold to students and parents to raise funds. The sale raised about Rs. 5000 which I donated to the