Poverty in Pakistan: A Visual Narrative

As a Pakistani who lives abroad, the visit’s back to Lahore would bring the dramatic wealth inequity to light. The interviews I conducted with ‘servants’ working in upper-class families houses (a lot of whom were children) informed the creation of this project in 2018, the aim of which was to highlight the working class in Pakistan while simultaneously raising awareness for their unjust working conditions and exploitation.

This is Baba Ji (left) and Sorayya (right). They both work as a guard and a ‘maid’ at an upper-class families house in Lahore. These large-scale portraits done in pencil and oil paint were hung in an exhibit for many to see, highlighting the often neglected and ignored in a space frequented mostly by wealthier families.

many young girls from low-income families can be found cleaning floors and washing dishes in a wealthier family’s home rather than attending school

experiments with medium