Farah Mahbub’s Profile

DRUNKEN GYPSIES By Farah Mahbub: 5Sep; I am drunk and you are insane tell me, who will lead us home? How many times have I asked you not to drink so much for I see no sober soul in town. Come to the tavern my dearest and taste the wine of love for the soul is joyous only in the company of lovers. The tavern of love is your livelihood your income and expenses, the wine. Be careful, not to trust a sober soul with even one drop of this wine. Go on playing your lute, my drunken gypsy but tell me, between the two of us, who is...; Tags: Art, butterflys, love, nature, still life

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Artist Information

Birth: 10 April 1965, Karachi-Pakistan

Address: 40/2, 6 Commercial St, D.H.A Phase: IV Karachi - 75500 – PAKISTAN

Email: info@farahmahbub.com

Mobile: 9221. 3458277559

URL: http://www.farahmahbub.com

Philosophy:

Photography is a path, a sequence of events to be lived and experienced that helps you discover yourself and the people and places in your near and distant environments. It is not a fixed state of mind or being but an evolving medium, to take the edge off the weight some of can feel in conveying our feelings, beliefs and desires. In short not all of us are verbal enough in putting into words any intense visual rush witnessed.

As a visual artist we are most satisfied in expressing ourselves when we photograph subjects that give us a spiritual or an emotional rush. There is no traditional way of perceiving the subject, only diverse ways it can be experienced. What is essential is how the subject looks and feels to you. . In the eye of the beginner there are many possibilities; in the eye of the specialist there are only a few.

Technique & Style:

I work with medium format or 35mm cameras, analog or digital. Photographs are usually produced on Fuji or Kodak paper, and for the various alt-processes fine grain watercolor paper. For the fine art work produced image manipulation is at times applied using traditional darkroom methods or digital techniques. Photographic style includes Architecture, Landscapes, Still Life and Environmental Portraits.

Background:

I have been a professional photographer since 1988. Over these years as a professional I did fine art photography for personal self expression and freelance photography for various publications, national and multinational companies, kept this erratic pace for long, until I joined Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in 1997 to teach photography.

Presently freelance work is at its minimum and being a fulltime faculty member at various levels is at its maximum. And in the petite spare moments life gives me, are spent in plans to travel in search of fresh images, and to experiment further with new techniques and processes. Venturing into Digital Art seemed natural after being involved with time-honored old Alternative Photography Processes.

Solo Exhibitions:

November 2005 – Ethereal Ether Echoes – V.M Art Gallery – Karachi

February 2000 – Hues Within Sadequain Gallery Frere Hall –Karachi - SG Forum Art Gallery (Alliance Francaise)-Karachi
December 1996 – Intention- Sadequain Gallery Frere Hall –Karachi
September 1993 – Rendezvous with France - Alliance Francaise –Karachi

Group Exhibitions:

9th December 2009 – “There and Then” Mohatta Palace Museum Karachi
- 29 May to 31 May 2009 – ‘K’arcHItecture’ – Expo Centre Karachi
- 27 January to 14 February 2009 – Faculty Art/4 Exhibition – Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
- 10 March to 22 March 2008 – Faculty Art/3 Exhibition – Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
- 28 February to 17 March 2007 – Faculty Art/2 Exhibition – Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
- June – July 2007 PX3 – Prix de la Photographie – 13Sévigné Gallery – Paris
- 20-30 Nov 2006 – Chobi Mela IV International Festival of Photography. At National Art Gallery Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Shahbag, Dhaka Bangladesh
- 12 – 21 October 2006 –Special Exhibition: By a group of students and faculty of the IVS, the works depicts the rural Badin district of Sindh - Canvas – Karachi.
- 31 May to 15 June 2006 – Karachi 6 X 6: the Labyrinth an exhibition Co-Curated by Abdullah Syed & Roohi Ahmed. At the V.M Art Gallery – Karachi
- 6 to 12 April 2006 – Artists’ Voices: Body an exhibition Co-Curated by Sheherbano Hussain & Amin Gulgee. At the Amin Gulgee Gallery , Karachi - Pakistan
- 28 March 3 April 2006 – Artists’ Voices: Calligraphy an Exhibition Co-Curated by Sheherbano Hussain & Amin Gulgee. At the Amin Gulgee Gallery Karachi - Pakistan
- 27 January to 5 February 2006 – Faculty Art/1 Exhibition - Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
- 15 to 18 January 2005 – Photo Exhibition Singular Medium: Multiple Frames at the Italian Cultural Center New Delhi -India
- Kodak Photo Vision 2004 – PSK Photographic Society of Karachi 10 – 12 June at The Arts Council Of Karachi – Pakistan
- 11th Asian Art Biennale – 15 January to 2nd February 2004 – Osmani Memorial Hall, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
- 2002 - Center for Contemporary Art in Sacramento U.S.A for the show Digital Visions.
- February 1 - March 13, 2002 – Interrogating Diversity Betty Rymer Gallery - Chicago, Illinois United States of America online exhibition - Break on Through to the Other Side: Focus on Pakistan | A Cyber-Sent Art Exhibition of Contemporary Art from Pakistan
- February 2002 – An Idea of Perfection – (PNCA) the Pakistan National Council of the Arts
  Alhamra Gallery, Lahore - Pakistan
- September 2001 – Karavan Karachi – Photography, Gallery Sadequain, Karachi- Pakistan.
- 1994| 1995 |1996 |1997|2004| 2006|2007 PSK- Photographic Society of Karachi
- June 15 - July 14, 2007 – The Art of Digital Imagery – The Center for Fine Art Photography Gallery – Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Selected Awards:

~ PX3- Prix de la Photographie Paris: Farah Mahbub of Pakistan was Awarded: Second Prize in category FINE ART for the entry titled, “Lifelines & Manuscripts 25." The jury selected 2007’s winners from thousands of photography entries from over 85 countries. Winning entries from each major category are exhibited in Paris at the prestigious 13Sévigné Gallery in June/July 2007 and published in the high-quality, full-color Px3 Annual Book.

~ The Center for Fine Art Photography: Over 300 photographers submitted around 1300 images for this unique exhibit “The Art of Digital Imagery”. Farah Mahbub is one of the 50 photographers chosen to participate in this exhibition at The Center for Fine Art Photography gallery in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA from June 15 - July 14, 2007.