Shah Zaman Baloch | Shrine of Abdul Latif Bhittai

Photo © Shah Zaman Baloch - All Rights Reserved

Eons ago, I worked for a US international bank that saw it appropriate to send me to Karachi for about 9 months; an internship kind of thing to learn the tools of the trade. Whilst I enjoyed it (and probably learned absolutely nothing of value), I had no interest at the time in photography nor did I seek to immerse myself in a foreign culture. I was just out of university...it was my first job, and rather myopically, I was only focused on being a banker.

Foolishly, I didn't travel to Lahore or to Peshawar...I stayed put in Karachi and its surrounding region. I regret not having the intellectual and visual curiosity at the time to explore the immensity of what Pakistan has to offer...especially what has become one of my photographic obsessions: Sufism.

One of Pakistan's premier Sufi saints is Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, whose Urs (death anniversary) is widely observed, and is said to be attended by half a million pilgrims. But through of the talented work of photographer Shah Zaman Baloch, I've come across this wonderful image of the shrine of the Sufi Abdul Latif Bhittai.

Abdul Latif Bhittai was Sindhi Sufi scholar, mystic, saint, and poet,  and is considered to be greatest poet of the Sindhi language. His death anniversary is held in a small village not far from Hyderabad, and about 200 kilometers from Karachi.

Shah Zaman Baloch's website portfolio consists mostly of single frames of his native Pakistan. Although he originally wanted to be a painter, he saw a newspaper advertisement of admission for Bachelors in Film and TV at the National College of Arts in 2005, and started his career. While his website has a photography gallery, his main area of expertise are in the fields of Direction and Cinematographer.